Consul of the Underworld: Grinding Phase
by Engineer4Ever
Summary: As war looms on the horizon, enemies gather from across the globe. From abyssal Tartarus to frigid Jorunheim to exotic Persia to the musical Goblin Kingdom, the chosen emissaries of Olympus must battle with word, blade and spell to keep their world and family safe.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson or Harry Potter.**

 **Consul of the Underworld: Grinding Phase**

 **Chapter One: Pride and Prejudice**

 **Beta: ShadowofAxios**

* * *

New York City was as flashy as usual. The lights, the noise, the people, it was always a rush.

Alkaid was sitting down at a small table outside of The Cheesecake Factory with her girlfriend Pyrrha. They were out on one of their weekly dates. A luxury that they had been able to enjoy since the daughter of Hades had started working in New York and thus made commuting easier for both of them.

"How are the classes? The kids not giving you trouble?" Pyrrha asked, dressed a bit more maturely than normal but still had some of her usual punk taste splashed in.

"Yes, though I think some of them might have a crush on me." Alkaid giggled as she gingerly partook in her cheesecake.

"Little shits." Pyrrha grunted as she stabbed her cake, much to Alkaid's amusement. Seeing her overprotectiveness was just one of her cute sides.

"You have nothing to worry about about. I'm not interested." Alkaid assured her girlfriend. "Besides once I actually start taking over some classes from Mr. Morgan, I will make it a point to dump so much homework on them that it'll kill any crush they might have."

Pyrrha chuckled.

"There's this one boy though, Percy Jackson. I've been watching him closely and I am almost sure that he is a half-blood." Alkaid said with certainty.

Pyrrha just cocked her brow doubtfully. "You sure?"

"Yes," Alkaid nodded. "He has the standard ADHD, troublemaker package, plus he has a satyr shadowing him."

The daughter of Ares just hummed concomitantly. "Satyrs can make mistakes."

"Maybe." Alkaid acknowledged as she dabbed her lips with a napkin. "But my instincts tell me that this time he is right on the money."

"If you say so," Pyrrha said dismissively. "Why is it important?"

"Because if his history is anything to go by, he is powerful and you know what that means."

"Trouble." Pyrrha said with an annoyed sigh. "Great. Just what we need right now."

"I wonder who his godly parent is." Alkaid said with a twinge of curiosity.

"Has he shown any powers? Or interests? Those are usually tells of who his parent is."

"No." Alkaid signed, "He seems pretty average, though he tends to brood at times."

"Well, that rules out some but nowhere near enough options." Pyrrha noted dryly.

Alkaid gave a shrug. "I know. It's frustrating, but he really has nothing else that might hint at his parentage."

"Get him mad. That always gets some kind of reaction out of a half-blood." The redhead suggested with a dark smirk.

Alkaid gave her a look. "And risk losing my internship? You do realize teachers are not supposed to antagonize their students, correct?"

"This kid sounds like he does that all on his own."

"It's the principle of the matter."

"Alright, alright, don't get your panties in a twist, Kaidy." Pyrrha said as she held her hands up in surrender.

"Though your idea is not without merit." The daughter of Hades hummed thoughtfully. "I will not instigate anything, but I can certainly observe him whenever he becomes angry."

"There you go! So, what's next?" Her girlfriend asked as took a sip from her drink.

"You are done with your meal?"

"Yeah, it was nice to come here. Been a while." The daughter of Ares shrugged.

"Hmm," Alkaid hummed as she glanced at her girlfriend with a leer. "Speaking of things we've not done in a while…"

"Kaidy?" Pyrrha said nervously, clearly wary of the way the other girl was looking at her.

"How about some toys?" Alkaid asked with a smirk. Her foot under the table brushing teasingly up her date's leg.

Pyrrha blushed to the point she matched her fiery hair.

"Oh! And did you bring that uniform I got you like I asked?"

"Y-Yes. Why?" Her girlfriend stammered.

"Simple my dear. You have detention with Professor Potter." Alkaid declared with a smoldering gaze.

Pyrrha was tongue tied by the declaration. So stunned, that she let her fair skinned lover drag her to a nearby hotel.

It _had_ been a while.

* * *

"And now to summarize what we've covered today: We've gone over what we know about Shakespeare's life and the times he's lived in. The next time I see all of you, we'll start examining his work and trying to dissect how these might have influenced it." Alkaid said as she rounded up her lesson to the class of young boys and girls before her.

Many of her students were writing down the notes she'd written on the board diligently into their notebooks, which brought a pleased smile to her face. Others were too busy staring at her, no doubt something inappropriate running through their hormonal minds.

The daughter of Hades sometimes cursed her knack for fashion. She was dressed in a dark blue skirt suit that she'd accented with a small gold chain-link necklace. It certainly flattered her appearance, though perhaps a bit too much.

"Now before the bell goes, let me remind you to drop your vote for which of Shakespeare's plays in the syllabus you want to cover first." She added, pointing to a box on the teacher's table.

The bell ringing in the background just as she finished, Alkaid smirked at managing her time well. As the students began to shuffle out of class, all of them dutifully dropping their vote as she'd requested, the young woman looked towards the proper teacher of the class and her mentor, Mr. Morgan.

"Excellent work, Miss Potter. Your time management was excellent. Something even most experienced teachers struggle with." The elderly man smiled at her, receiving a beaming one in return. "Now why don't you pack up? The staff meeting is starting soon and we wouldn't want to be late."

"Thank you, sir." The young woman preened at the praise, as she packed up the box of votes and her other teaching materials.

"Done?" Mr. Morgan asked and Alkaid nodded. "Good then let's get going, we can talk more on the way."

The sorceress agreed and they headed to the staff room.

"I hear we're receiving a couple of new staff today." Mr. Morgan informed Alkaid, who just nodded politely. While she was curious about the new arrivals coming in the middle of the term, she was honestly more concerned with how she did in the lesson earlier.

Seemingly picking up on that, her mentor gave her a reassuring smile. "But you're more interested in hearing about my take on your lesson earlier, correct?"

Blushing lightly at being so transparent, she nodded.

"Like I said earlier, you did a good job." The man informed her after they both took a minute to exchange greetings with a group of students they passed in the hall. "The role play you used at the start of the lesson was especially good. It was a truly effective way to hook the students' interest about the bard and his work and you carried it out well."

Another group of students passed by and the two teachers paused to greet them, before Mr. Morgan continued with his assessment of Alkaid's performance.

"Though I personally feel that the role play could have been extended." The man admitted. "Ideally you shouldn't be focusing on teaching content in the first lesson like that but rather on building interest. As such, a whole lesson focused on doing that might have been better. Also you're still employing a little too much lecturing. Something I warned you about previously."

"In hindsight, I realized that as well." Alkaid agreed. "I'll need to work on it."

He mentor seemed satisfied with that and offered her a understanding nod. "Don't beat yourself up over it. The temptation to just lecture is another thing we teachers struggle with. It takes time to learn how to fight it. You've already made quite the improvement in that regard from the last few lessons you taught."

"Thank you, Mr. Morgan."

"We're in the staff room already, Alkaid." The man said with a playful smirk, as he held the door for her and they entered. "It's Simon now, did you forget?"

Alkaid just rolled her eyes at her mentor.

As she put her things down, she noticed that most of the faculty were already present but so were two new faces.

One was a middle-aged caucasian man with a thick brown beard and a scholarly look to him as sat in a wheelchair. There was something familiar about him. Even more suspicious, the sorceress could sense some magic coming from his wheelchair.

The other was an elderly woman with stringy hair and a worn face. She radiated an aura of unbending harshness and even through her human disguise Alkaid recognized her immediately.

 _Alecto, Father better not have sent you here to watch me. I don't need a babysitter!_ She whined in her mind. The young woman thought she had proved herself to her Father already. Ugh, he was such a worrywart!

"Everyone, this is Mr. Brunner, our new Latin teacher. And Mrs. Dodds, our new pre-algebra teacher. Please give them a warm welcome." The principal said as everyone clapped politely and greeted them.

As the meeting proceeded, Alkaid barely heard anything that was discussed. None of it really mattered to her. As an intern she basically did what she was told by her mentor, as such if there was anything she needed to know Simon would tell her. As such, she instead spent the whole meeting trying to decipher the reason why her old nanny and the magic using man in a wheelchair were here.

After the meeting concluded, Alkaid discretely pulled Alecto aside to speak with her.

"Alecto, what are you doing here?" She asked the Fury with thinly veiled annoyance.

"Do not worry, Little Lady. I am not here for you." She smoothly replied as she glanced at Mr. Brunner who was surrounded by their colleagues who were welcoming him to the school. "Not entirely anyways."

"Explain, please."

The Fury nodded and said, "I am here because that man is actually Chiron."

Alkaid's eyes widened in surprise at that as the puzzle pieces began to come together.

"Father thinks he's here to find a powerful demigod-"

"Yes," the Fury agreed. "One which our Lord thinks is the spawn who took his property. After all, why else would that old centaur come all the way here away from his precious children if not to pick up the prize?"

Alkaid thought on those words and blinked in surprise, "You think _Chiron_ is involved in the theft?"

Chiron was a famous teacher, and for Alkaid who wanted to teach for a living, it was hard to imagine he would be party to such a thing.

"Perhaps, Princess." Her old nanny said as she eyed the centaur warily. "Or perhaps he's just here following the breadcrumbs like we have."

"Breadcrumbs?" Alkaid said, even as she figured it out. "A powerful half-blood here, not far from Olympus just when that's exactly the profile of the thief?"

"Exactly." Alecto agreed. "Is there anyone here you suspect of being a demigod?"

Alkaid frowned as she nodded slowly, "Yes, a boy. He seems oblivious to our world though."

"And that can be faked or arranged. Have you forgotten the power of the Lethe?" The Fury said while shooting a look at the pocket where she kept the bottle of the memory erasing water that Alkaid carried with her at all times.

"No, I have not." The demigoddess pursed her lips, as she began to see where her Father was coming from. As much as she wanted to give her student the benefit of the doubt, she could not deny that if he had even the smallest chance of being the thief… She had to be sure.

"His name is Percy Jackson, a sixth grader. I'll point him out to you." Alkaid assured her Father's torturer.

"Good." Alecto said with a smile that would have given most people heart attacks but which the daughter of Hades found endearing.

As the bell rang to warn them that classes would be starting soon. Alkaid noticed how Chiron left the room with a glare of suspicion aimed at her and Alecto.

* * *

It was the day school ended and Alkaid had just come home to the Underworld after a long last day at work. As an intern that wouldn't be returning next term, the last day of school was also her last day at Yancy.

Which was a shame since she had enjoyed her time there. It had been a learning experience. She'd thought herself prepared to teach when she'd first arrived at the school, but actually stepping into the classroom and conducting lessons had showed her just how much more she had to learn.

That said, it was not without its downsides. Namely a certain annoying centaur.

 _I know he is supposed to be clever, but he kept me on my toes most of the time we interacted._ Alkaid wrinkled her nose at the thought. Chiron, while a great and kind treacher, was as sharp as any blade. _Especially after that damn field trip. Alecto really jumped the gun there._

At least the trip had outed Percy Jackson as a demigod, and judging by his powers and their strength, one sired by her Uncle Poseidon. Though it had also confirmed, as if there was any doubt, to the centaur who Alecto had been which made him even more suspicious of Alkaid for their close association.

 _If only he bought that she used to be my teacher when I was a child._ Alkaid sighed. _It was only the truth._

Then again their excuse might have been more damning. Honestly, Alecto had no imagination.

 _Really should have stopped her before she said that. I definitely could have come up with something better._

At least she was fairly sure that she hadn't given anything away, nevertheless Chiron probably had an idea what she was.

 _Especially when he casually slipped into Ancient Greek to see how I would respond. Even when we were taking orders for lunch._ Alkaid chewed her bottom lip, at least she had acted as clueless as she could.

She was pacing around her room in thought, going over all her interactions with Chiron to spot if she'd dropped the ball anywhere when a knock came from her door. Retreating from her mind palace, she addressed her visitor, "Yes?"

"Princess, Lord Hades wishes to speak with you in the throne room." A ghoul said from the other side.

"Thank you."

With a quick hop via Shadow Travel, Alkaid entered the throne room and noted the depressing atmosphere filling it. Since it was summer, her step-mother Persephone had gone to see Aunt Demeter as usual. And as was his typical behavior, her Father was heavily saddened by this.

She smiled as brightly as she could and greeted her sire, "Hello Father, I'm home for the summer holiday."

"Ah, Alkaid. Glad to see you back." Hades said with a smile. It didn't reach his eyes though and she knew he was still upset over the loss of his Helm.

"It is good to be back, Father." Alkaid returned as cheerfully as she could.

Hades' smile grew a tad more warm, before the brazier in front of his throne suddenly flared and an image appeared in the depths of its dark flames. He immediately turned his attention to it as it showed her former student Percy Jackson spending some time with his mother.

"Alecto has yet to reform, but it should be within a few hours. As she cannot tell me, I need your insight on the Jackson boy." He said, his voice becoming menacing as his pale white fingers dug into his obsidian throne. "Is he capable of being the Helm Thief?"

Alkaid pondered on this. While her interaction with the young boy left her with the impression that he was not capable of doing this, she was still someone who followed logic above all else. And her logic led her to believe there was a small possibility he might have had a hand in this.

After all, like Alecto had said, the Lethe was an amazing tool.

"As he is now? No, I would not think so." Alkaid offered.

Her Father's black eyes glimmered dangerously, "I sense a 'but'."

"As Alecto pointed out to me, a sufficiently scheming individual could very easily have wiped his mind." Alkaid added, biting her lip nervously at the possibility.

"Lethe." Hades hissed and stroked his chin in thought, "I am not sure who has visited lately to get some of the waters. If so, it might have been centuries ago."

"Discounting his apparent lack of knowledge about our world, Percy Jackson is everything that someone would look for in the thief. He is either a powerful son of Poseidon or can at least pass for one, which would either mean his Father sent him or he could be used to frame the King of the Seas. Plus he was unknown to the gods which makes him difficult to track."

"From how you've described him, he is sea spawn without question." Hades stated firmly, "He is exactly like Poseidon was in his youth."

 _Yes, you two did grow up in the same stomach after all._ Alkaid nodded as her Father stood up. The souls of the damned in his robes moaned and cried as he picked up a monster catalog.

"I couldn't say." Alkaid demurred. "That said I don't think we should be so hasty here."

Hades cocked an eyebrow as he casually flipped through the book of monsters for hire. Ever since the monsters unionized in the sixties, the gods had been forced to actually _pay_ them when they were sent to challenge demigods. Alkaid had heard from her family how it had been a massive scandal back in the day.

"What do you mean?"

The sorceress gestured to the image in the flames and the beginnings of a storm brewing wherever the boy and his mother were.

"Let's _not_ make ourselves out to be the bad guys here, is what I am saying Father." Alkaid said as she took the monster yellow pages from his hands. "Chiron already is suspicious of you as is thanks to Alecto's rash actions. Sending," She paused to look at who he had almost hired and frowned, "the Minotaur, really?"

"He does good work for cheap." Hades rebuked with a sniff. "Especially if you send him after a child of Poseidon. Sometimes he even does it for free."

"Anyway, let's not be seen as the aggressors here. We're better than that, yes?"

Hades just gave a disgruntled huff of irritation. "Only because it seems like my other brother has beaten us to the punch."

Turning to the flames, Alkaid saw as a raging storm surrounded the scene and from within its howling winds emerged the hulking half-man half-bull form of the Minotaur.

"...He had to have cheated with the lots, I swear. There's no way that the Fates would let someone like that be the King of the Universe of their own accord." Alkaid frowned as she telekinetically put the book away. Her brow twitched with irritation at how stupid the god king could be.

"I know, right?" Hades agreed with a smirk as dismissed the scrying.

"You are not even going to watch?" She asked him as she felt some concern for Percy.

"Why? If he dies, I can question him myself. If he lives, I'm sending you to Camp."

"I'm sorry, what?" Alkaid asked with wide eyes.

"If I had any other choice, I wouldn't even consider such a thing." Hades snarled, "I trust the rest of our family as far as one of my ghouls can throw them. Sadly, you are my best agent who has a reasonable chance at entering the Camp. Finally dating that daughter of Ares has its uses."

Alkaid frowned as she realized the validity of her Father's logic. Though she did not like him judging Pyrrha like that.

"I suppose you're right."

"Of course I am." Hades said with a teasing smirk. "Besides, you've never been to a summer program. This will be a new experience for you."

"I've already been with a much of hormonal children for months." Alkaid dryly quipped. "Sending me to a bunch of them with powers is not that much different."

Suddenly, the brazier flared in intensity once more and the image returned to show Percy facing off against the son of Pasiphaë. He was not doing so well however, as at the creature's feet was the unconscious form of his satyr friend Grover Underwood and both Percy and his mother were trapped in the meaty clutches of the monster and being crushed to death.

"Ah! The finale of the chase. Let's watch shall we?" Hades said with deadly cheer.

"Huh, she seems familiar. I think I ran into her once in New York City." Alkaid admitted as she cocked her head to the side and took a closer look at the boy's mother. "Hm, she's a pretty good driver. She made it all the way to Camp in the storm even with the Minotaur chasing after them."

"It's not going to help them sadly." Hades observed with a sadistic smirk. "All of them are about to die."

As the events unfolded, Alkaid felt a sense of deja vu from the time of Thalia Grace and company fled to Camp Half-Blood. That had ended in tragedy for the daughter of Zeus as she ended up being transformed into a tree for her troubles.

 _Transformed!? I have an idea!_

"Father, wait!" Alkaid shouted as inspiration struck her.

The Lord of the Dead turned his head towards his daughter and gave her a questioning look.

Obliging, Alkaid outlined her plan. "We should save Jackson's mother. If he did have something to do with the theft, we can use her for leverage. If not, he and his godly parent would still owe us a boon for saving his mother's life. It's a win-win scenario."

Hades smiled maliciously as he pondered the idea for a moment, before with a wave of his hand the woman in the flames transformed into golden particles.

"Very good, Alkaid." The Rich One praised.

"Now, I'll have one over that waterlogged brother of mine." The god said sinisterly as a stream of golden particles flowed down from the ceiling to coalesce in the palm of his hand in the vague image of Jackson's mother.

"Yes, Father." She bowed her head politely, wisely keeping her opinion about the silly rivalry between her Father and his brothers to herself.

Instead, both father and daughter turned their attention to the image in the flames. They watched as the untrained boy pulled off a feat of great strength and broke off one of the Minotaur's own horns before using it as a weapon to kill the monster.

Alkaid was impressed. That was not something most trained demigods could manage, much less someone who appeared to know nothing about their world.

"If my youngest brother lets him live, the boy may actually be a decent hero." Hades said while stroking his chin thoughtfully. "Or it just proves he does have training, but merely forgotten about it. Either way, it shows that the boy definitely has the skill to be the thief."

The young woman rolled her eyes at her Father's apparent obsession with the boy being the thief.

"So am I to assume I should pack a suitcase?" Alkaid frowned, annoyed at having to degrade herself to being a Camper for the summer just to satisfy her Father's paranoia.

"A duffle. You can't take your whole room with you, daughter of mine." Hades chided.

"I could if I used the right expansion charms or a magical tent."

"And give away one of your aces?"

"I've gone to Hogwarts! How else would I know Pyrrha, let alone date her?" She argued right back.

"And do the average witch have the skill or means to purchase or create such things?"

"No…" Alkaid pouted at this. She really didn't want to have to be reduced to what she could carry in a duffle bag.

It was beneath her.

Enjoying her plight, Hades just smiled playfully. "Maybe this will teach you some moderation when it comes to your clothes, hmm?"

Not dignifying her Father's tease with a response she spun on her heel and matched towards her room, "I'm going to pack."

Her only reply were her Father's amused chuckles.

* * *

Infiltrating Camp Half-Blood had been depressingly easy. All the daughter of Hades had to do was arrange for Pyrrha to pick her up and drive her there, claiming that she'd finally convinced her that she was a demigod.

 _Honestly, could the security in this place be any more lax?_ Alkaid noted with a frown as she settled into her bunk at Cabin Eleven where she was staying as a 'unclaimed' half-blood.

While newcomers tended to get a spot on the floor. As an adult, it was decided that she would get one of the beds instead. On one hand this was for purely practical reasons as she took up less space in a bed then on the floor, on the other hand no one felt comfortable letting a young woman sleep on the floor alongside a whole bunch of hormonal boys. It was why all the girls older than twelve in Cabin Eleven were all given bunks even if they had to share.

She was one of the few rare _older_ demigods. Something that seemed to give the younger children some signs of hope since she had been living outside of Camp most of her life.

If they only knew.

"Hey Kaidy," Pyrrha said as she dropped by Cabin Eleven just as Alkaid finished unpacking her stuff and casting a series of wards on them to ensure their safety from her kleptomaniac cabinmates.

"Hello, Pyrrha." She smiled genuinely. The _only_ thing nice about this mission was that she would be able to spend more time with her lover than she had in months.

"Want to go for a walk around the lake?" Her girlfriend asked, earning them a few snickers and blushes from their unwanted audience. One which helpfully included her target on this mission, Percy Jackson.

The boy had been gobsmacked when she'd shown up. He'd tried to question her, but Pyrrha and the Cabin Eleven counselor, Luke Castellan, had warned him to back off. Supposedly to give her time to 'adapt to being a demigod'. Alkaid appreciated that. As much as she had liked the boy as a student, she had always been annoyed by how he, and admittedly many of his peers, never seemed to run out of questions and always wanted to ask them at the worst possible times.

Shaking off her thoughts on the boy, the daughter of Hades shot her lover a smile. "I would love to."

As the couple began to stroll towards the lake, Pyrrha couldn't help but grin as she admired Alkaid's new look. The daughter of Hades was dressed in a pair of jean shorts and a Camp Half-Blood tee-shirt. With her stunning figure, it was quite a sight. Not that the girl in question agreed.

"You look good in orange."

"No, I look terrible. The colour does not agree with me." Alkaid countered sourly. "I'm going to burn every one of these shirts once I'm done with this visit."

Pyrrha playfully bumped her hip against Alkaid, "Don't be so gloom and doom. Try to have some fun at least. Who knows, you might enjoy yourself."

"Is this you trying to recruit me for this flag game of yours?"

"Hey, with you on our side we're locked for a win." Pyrrha grinned as she folded her arms behind her head.

"Hmph! I'm not using my usual arsenal. I'll be using basic spells and that's it." Alkaid told the redhead sternly, before dropping into a whisper. "Father doesn't want me to let on about what I can do."

"Your dad might have the right idea." Pyrrha agreed with a frown.

Alkaid blinked in confusion. Her lover agreeing with her Father? Was it doomsday?

"Yeah, I'm as surprised as you are." The daughter of Ares agreed. "But Chiron held a meeting after you arrived. Told each counselor to keep an eye on you."

Alkaid withheld a laugh, "Clearly Chiron has no idea where your loyalty lies. Honestly, the nerve of asking you that."

The grass around Alkaid's feet withered as her irritation manifested.

"Oh, he knows. He asked the other counselors to watch me too." Pyrrha grumbled as she kicked a stone beside the path into the lake. "Castor from Cabin Twelve told me. After I left, he called everyone else back. Said something about how I was compromised because I was dating you."

"If something happens, you know I won't hesitate, correct?" The alabaster skinned beauty said in a wicked whisper.

"Yeah. By the way, he said you might be working for the enemy. I think he might know who your dad is."

Pinching the bridge of her nose, "Enemy. Of course they view him as the enemy. He only makes sure when they die they are taken care of. Ingrates, all of them."

"Hey, it's just him okay." Pyrrha said defensively. "Mr. D was either laughing his ass off at Chiron or glaring at him. I think he might actually be on our side."

Alkaid relaxed but still held herself, "He knows who I am, I'm sure. He probably told Chiron. Glad to hear he's not out for my blood."

"Yeah, unlike Chiron he doesn't think your dad took the Master Bolt. He said it was too obvious when Chiron mentioned it."

"Shh," Alkaid placed a finger to her girlfriend's lips, "The Campers still don't know about that."

"Shrry." The redhead mumbled out and moved the hand away. She placed a chaste kiss on the back of her hand and smiled, "It's not a big deal though. It's like an open secret. No one is talking about it because Chiron is insisting we keep it a secret to 'avoid panic' but everyone with half a brain has figured it out."

Alkaid boggled at the king of the gods' total lack of discretion. His symbol of power had been stolen and he'd let the whole damn world figure it out!?

Then again, the only things he seemed capable of keeping secret were his affairs and even then he had a terrible track record. Just look at how often Hera managed to sniff them out.

Getting back to the matter at hand, Alkaid continued questioning her lover about Chiron. "Does the activities director suspect I stole the Bolt?"

Pyrrha nodded. "I told him he was stupid since you had an alibi, but he didn't want to listen."

"Really now, I remember that time quite fondly." Alkaid smiled teasingly at her girlfriend, whose cheeks turned a pretty shade of pink as she undoubtedly recalled the steamy date they'd been on the night of the theft. Pyrrha had even begged off from Camp's field trip to Olympus to spend some quality time with her lover after some rather _persuasive_ arguments on Alkaid's part. Arguments that might have involved some rather racy talks over I.M..

"Y-Yeah. Just so you know, we're both adults so that's okay here. Though I'd rather we ease up on it, no secret stays safe here if you know what I mean."

Alkaid frowned at this and brushed her fingers against Pyrrha's cheek, "And what exactly would like you keep secret about our relationship, hmm?"

Blushing prettily, Pyrrha stammered out a response. It was adorable to see. "I-I don't mind people knowing we're having sex, but w-what we do. T-That I have a problem with them knowing. It's private ya know?"

"Then we'll just need to be discrete, won't we?"

"Ahem!" A loud male voice cleared his throat from behind them, causing both girls to jump.

They spun around to see Mr. D looking at them with amusement.

"Yes, you will." He assured the lovers. "Which is why if you two do feel the need, please use one of the guest rooms in the Big House. I'd rather not have the brats' parents after my head for exposing them to 'indecency' or some such rubbish that birthed the miscreants in the first place."

"Greetings, Mr. D." Alkaid curtsied despite the lack of a skirt. "And thank you most kindly for your generosity."

"Heh, finally a brat with manners. Leave it to him to bring up one of you right." The god of wine snorted as he sipped from his Diet Coke can and walked off.

Pyrrha just looked between the retreating god and Alkaid in shock.

"He likes you." She breathed disbelievingly.

"I'm a likable woman."

Pyrrha quirked a brow.

"Okay, so my Father and him have always gotten along. Plus I'm betting he's doing it in part to piss off Chiron and some of the other gods."

"See, now that I believe."

* * *

It was another boring day at Camp Half-Blood for Alkaid. The activities just didn't appeal to her at all. She knew more about their world than the daughter of Athena that taught the classes, Annabeth Chase, did. Her skill with her powers, what she was willing to show at least, were well beyond acceptable. Arts and Crafts never interested her and neither did the physical sports. In fact, the only remotely interesting thing about the Camp's activities was the physical combat training. And that was entirely because Pyrrha handled most of that.

A fact that led them to visiting the Big House after almost every one of their lessons. It had even become a running joke throughout the Camp, but neither girl minded. So they had a healthy sex life, that was more than many couples could claim!

The horny teenagers _wished_ they could get away with it. Sucks to be them.

Not that sex was on her mind all the time. No, despite the distraction caused by her lover's close proximity, she was still on a mission and she was dutifully carrying it out.

As Cabin Eleven cooled down after a long day of activities and waited for the dinner bell, Alkaid sat at her bunk and discretely kept her emerald green eyes on the young Jackson boy even as she lazily pretended to read a book. The boy was talking with Luke about quite the spar the two had earlier in the day where Percy managed to disarm Luke.

 _Only after dumping water on himself. Does water give him a buff?_ Alkaid thought as he was asking Luke for some tips on what he should do. _I think I've read that it's one of the possible powers for children of Poseidon._

She was distracted enough to barely register as Sammy, one of the sons of Hermes, slid onto the bed next to her. It wasn't necessarily a big deal. The cabin was thoroughly cramped and quiet spots inside were few and far between, as such the little one that formed around her due to the way the Campers were ostracizing her on Chiron's orders - as Pyrrha had told her - was often exploited by others who needed a breather from the bustle.

She very much did mind however when the boy's hand began snaking towards her rear. Just as his hand was about to make contact, the black flakes in her eyes shined darkly.

 _That's it!_ Fury hammered into her body as her magic caused her hair to move in the non-existent breeze. With a angry shout, the son of Hermes was catapulted from one side of the cabin to the other.

His body crashed with a heavy thud and a second one when his face met the floor. All eyes turned towards the black haired girl as she was standing up with magical energy around her body.

"You crossed a line, _boy_." Alkaid snarled down at the fool as she stomped over to stand over him. "I get that you're a hormonal idiot. That the whole lot of you are. That's why I don't mind if you leer or catcall or even wank while thinking about me or whatever else you do. It's natural for kids your age. Heck, I'm even flattered."

All around the cabin, everyone's faces turned red as she listed off what they had done.

"The second though, the mere second you touch me… I stop being so nice. Did I say I want to be touched by you?"

Sammy shook his head furiously.

"Exactly, Sammy boy, I didn't. And when you tried that was you molesting me, you get that?"

The boy's eyes widened in horror.

"Y-You're not gonna press charges or anything, right?"

"You bet I am." Alkaid told him. "Just like everyone should in my place."

The boy began shaking fearfully at the fear aura that the normally composed woman was unconsciously releasing in her outrage.

"Travis, Connor," Luke said as he marched up to the confrontation, disappointment on his face. "Take our sorry excuse for a brother to Chiron and Mr. D would you? I'll be there in a minute."

"Righto, Luke!"

"Come on, Sam. Damn you screwed the pooch." The nearly identical looking Stoll brothers said as they helped their brother up and hauled him off.

Alkaid, noticing the terrified looks pointed at her and quickly cut off her aura. She was cursing herself on the inside for her lapse, but chalked up her mistake to being too outraged.

"He's lucky he still _has_ a hand, Castellan." She said loudly enough to be heard from outside the cabin.

"And I know that." Luke held up his hands, trying to play the mediator that he was. At least he was on her side. Good to know sibling bonds did not cover serious crimes here at Camp. "I'll make sure Mr. D and Chiron will be fair in their judgement."

"Knowing Mr. D he'll be a dolphin in a few minutes."

That drew a few snickers, but the stern looks on Luke and Alkaid's faces quickly quieted the children.

"And he'll deserve it." Luke agreed. "So, um, not everyone in Cabin Eleven is like him."

"I know, or weren't you listening to what I said? So long as you keep what you do to yourself, I'm confident enough in myself to be flattered instead of offended. Some of the crushes are even cute."

Turning to shoot Percy a teasing wink, she continued. "Especially Percy's."

The son of Poseidon turned bright red and sputtered, "W-What are you talking about?"

The whole cabin burst into laughter at that denial.

"Oh, come off it Jackson." One of the Hecate girls giggled. "Didn't you spend the whole singalong last night telling me how hot you've always thought she was?"

"I-I-" Percy sputtered, unable to say anything.

"Or that time you looked after her and Pyrrha all hot and bothered when they ran off to the Big House?" Another cabin mate asked. "Not that I can blame you, both of them are smoking hot."

Percy just stood there blushing crimson and unable to say a word. He looked like he wanted to find an entrance to the Underworld just for an escape.

"That I am." Alkaid agreed without shame. "But let's give Percy a break. He's already too shy to talk to me since I got here, tease him any more and he might be liable to faint at the mere sight of me."

"Miss Potter!" Percy cried out in dismay.

"Hot for teacher~!" Someone sang out.

"Ehem." Alkaid frowned at one of the boys, who winced at her sharp gaze.

"Sorry!"

* * *

A few days after the groping incident, where the culprit had indeed been turned into a dolphin and which according to a dream visit from Makaria she'd learned had gotten mauled within hours of his transformation by a school of great whites and delivered to their Father for judgement.

How that happened, Alkaid had no idea. Really. It definitely had nothing to do with her Uncle very transparently trying to curry favor. Most definitely not.

Last she heard, Sam was enjoying a rather painful time in the Fields of Punishment.

Never let it be said that the House of Hades wasn't a vindictive lot.

It was due to this vindictiveness that she was strongly tempted to do something untoward to Percy at the moment. It was after a lesson in sword fighting, where her waned fencing skills didn't par up against Percy's growing aptitude with a blade. She frankly called bullshit on his unnatural talent for swordsmanship. What did that have to do with Poseidon? At least her magical skill could be attributed to her training and association with Hecate and her heritage as a child of the magic rich Underworld.

 _Now if he had super strength, it'd be more believable since his father was known to throw mountains in the Gigantomachy._ Alkaid thought in bemusement. She could just imagine Percy accidently leaning on a wall and caving it in.

It certainly earned a giggle.

Her recovered mood was sent plummeting however when Chiron trotted up to her with a determined look on his face.

"Alkaid, I believe we need to talk. Now." The centaur demanded.

"Here? Right now?" Alkaid asked honestly surprised that he would confront her so publicly. He probably thought this would make things more difficult for her. His stern visage however did not deter her, after all, she had seen worse from Persephone when she wouldn't eat her vegetables when she was a little girl.

"Yes, now." The Trainer of Heroes said sternly. "Tell me, when were you going to confess to being a daughter of Hades?"

Seeing eyes on her, Alkaid decided to put on a smug look, "Honestly, what took you so long to ask? I thought you would be more direct. Not hiding behind your campers and having them spy on me. We're both intellectuals after all, or at least I am."

The unsaid jab caused his long face to frown further.

"I waited, young lady, so I could gauge you better. Honestly you confused me. On one hand, you seem like a good person. Yet on the other, you were cooperating with a monster. One of the Kindly Ones no less."

 _Did he perhaps forget that the Furies are Father's most loyal servants? Or is he so biased against our House that only a traitor that would oppose Father and his servants carrying out his will would qualify as a good person to him?_

"Well, Alecto was always a nice nanny when I was a wee little thing." The daughter of the Rich One shrugged, "So I said hello to her."

Chiron just staggered back in shock. "N-Nanny."

"Yes. I was quite cross when she went and attacked Percy. Honestly, if you didn't give him that sword I would have blasted her for such a thing. It was reckless and totally jumped the gun of our investigation." She said, trying to be truthful as she could.

"Investigation?"

"The same one you're doing on me. To check if Percy was capable of stealing the Master Bolt."

"What?" Percy shouted in the background, but both Alkaid and Chiron ignored him. Whispers erupted from some of the campers while others had a grim look on their faces.

"And?" Chiron demanded.

"We have not made a judgement yet. It is why I'm here. To continue the investigation."

"I see."

"So what about me?" Alkaid spread her arms out, "Have I been a fair little half-blood or am I the spawn of evil you so clearly assume I am? Please, be honest."

Chiron's hands twitched for his bow and that was answer enough for Alkaid who began priming her magic.

They were both stopped however a holographic image of the Helm of Darkness enshrouded by black flames appeared over Alkaid's head.

"I believe this is the part where you honor my Father, _sir_." The 'newly' claimed half-blood stated coldly.

The centaur gritted his teeth, even as the surrounding Campers all took to one knee.

"Hail, Alkaid Potter, daughter of Hades. God of the Dead and Wealth, Lord of the Underworld, The Rich One, The Silent One,The Hospitable One." Chiron hissed out.

All around them, the Campers muttered uneasily about her parentage but again neither of them paid them any mind.

"Oh, and now that everything is in the open, I would like it if you stopped poisoning the Campers against me. I'm not the Lightning Thief, just one of the many people looking for the culprit."

"I will certainly try." The centaur said while glaring daggers at Alkaid. "So long as you do not put my Campers in danger in your investigation."

 _No he won't._ Alkaid frowned, her anger rattling in her chest as her hands twitched. She had respected for Chiron as one of the great teachers in history and for his fabled wisdom and kindness. Sadly, that respect was blown away by this public attempt at inciting the Campers to lynch her.

"Without question, I'll even swear on the River St-"

Alkaid's bold declaration was interrupted as Percy stepped forward.

"Stop!" The boy shouted. "She doesn't need to do that."

"Percy, if her Father did steal the Bolt-"

"Which he didn't." Alkaid interrupted, not that Chiron acknowledged her.

"-then she could very well be here to sow confusion at best or worst attack us from within! I will not put the lives of everyone here in danger."

The boy had a fierce look in those sea green eyes of his. His hands were balled, as if he wanted to say something but looked conflicted.

"Enough, Percy." Alkaid said putting her hand on his shoulder. "There's no point in talking to a bigoted donkey."

The growing crowd of Campers cringed at her disrespecting their mentor, but thankfully no one said anything.

"He's already decided my Father is guilty even without any evidence."

 _Much like how Zeus has done for you._ Alkaid inwardly sighed as she looked at the young boy. It wasn't fair, but then against, the two weren't supposed to be born in the first place.

Turning to Chiron once more, she addressed him with a glare. "I honestly expected more from you. And a reminder, my Father will remember this next time some of your campers die. The House of Hades' grudge runs _deep_. Even I have my limits."

"Is that a threat?" Chiron bristled, reaching for his bow but was stopped when Mr. D put a restraining hand on his arm.

"Ha! If the girl wanted to make a threat, she would." Mr. D said with a dark grin on his face, "Right there? That's just her telling things as it is. Uncle Bones never forgets a slight and you've just majorly disrespected him and his daughter with your lack of trust. Good job, _Trainer of Heroes._ "

The ancient centaur flinched as the god pointed out how he'd likely just doomed many of his charges to unfair judgements in the afterlife thanks to his rash actions.

"A grudge is a terrible thing, Chiron. You should know with how many students you lost to them." Alkaid shot back, sounding disappointed. She had met many of them after all. From Achilles to Medea.

"I-"

"Save it, Chiron." Mr. D told the older immortal. "You're just digging yourself deeper. Go relax, I'll handle this."

Chiron trotted off, but not without shooting Alkaid an angry look over his shoulder.

"You ok, Miss Magic?"

Alkaid just nodded to her godly cousin.

"Good. Then I advise everyone get back to whatever they were doing. Show's over. Scram you little cretins!"

At the god's bellow, the Campers scattered with Alkaid and Cabin Eleven no exception. Seeing that the crowd had dispersed, Mr. D nodded in satisfaction before conjuring a Diet Coke and strolling off while sipping form it.

* * *

It had been a odd week for Alkaid since the confrontation with Chiron. While it had led to many Campers giving her a wide berth both on account of their mentor's obvious dislike of her and their own unease over her parentage, it had also led to many others opening up to her. Particularly the children of the minor gods in Cabin Eleven who saw her being a daughter of Hades as a good thing. Her Father was after all the closest thing the minor gods had to an actual advocate to the Olympian Twelve as they had. A role that had earned him quite a bit of respect from them, which had transferred over to their children as well.

This was why when Alkaid had declared that she would buck the decision of Luke Castellan to ally Cabin Eleven with Athena during the Capture the Flag wargame, the children of the minor gods had mostly followed her lead and allied with Ares instead.

The children of Athena in Cabin Six had tried to kick up a fuss over that, but Alkaid had simply reminded them that the rules clearly stated that for the purposes of the game the children of any given god could choose to side with whoever they wanted. Nowhere was it stated that they needed to have the privilege of a cabin to have this right. They had tried citing tradition next, but Alkaid had just referred them back to the rules. To her, logic trumped tradition, something that irked the Athena Cabin when she threw that argument in their faces.

As such with Cabin Eleven's allegiance effectively split between both sides in the game, the Athena faction found themselves heavily outnumbered with Dionysus, Demeter, Aphrodite, Ares, and Hephaestus arrayed against themselves and their allies in Apollo. At least, until they'd managed to convince Demeter to switch sides. Alkaid hadn't bothered to check but rumor had it that they had promised Cabin Four to cover their chores for a whole _month_ to get them to agree to defect.

Not that the outcome of the game mattered at all to the daughter of Hades. In fact, as she hovered in the air just outside the ten feet no-go zone for guards around her team's flag, she found herself bored to tears.

All she'd needed to do since the game started was cast a few magic circles for a handful of bombardment spells, tie them into some targeting spells and set up some randomized timers for them to fire every so often at the enemy. Besides that, all she needed was to provide the spells with magical power and that was it. She'd even saved herself the trouble on that front by casting a few spells designed to absorb magic from the environment and had them feed into the other spells. Thanks to all that, she'd created what amounted to an automatic magical artillery position. Something that her opponents had absolutely no way of countering if the way they ran like headless chickens whenever they saw one of her spells flying their way was any indication.

Looking on with her chin rested in the palm of her hands as her knees supported her elbows, she let her mind wander.

 _How is this at all challenging? They should at least throw some monsters into the mix. Make it fun._ Alkaid thought as she enjoyed the landscape painted by the waning light of Apollo's setting sun in the few moments before darkness crept along the forest.

"You know, this setup is amazing. Like, super intricate but you kinda zap the fun out of this, Miss Alkaid." Said Gracie Grey, daughter of Hecate and one of the other guards for the flag.

"Really?" Alkaid looked surprised, "This is just a basic defensive set up that came to mind. If I had more time they wouldn't be able within get one hundred yards of the flag."

"Which is why it takes all the fun out of it." Sherman Yang, another guard and son of Ares chimed in.

"I don't understand."

Gracie sighed and leaned against her spear.

"Save it, Sherman, if she can do this as casually as breathing she won't get the challenge in a fair fight."

"I thought I was being fair." Alkaid pursed her lips, "I left gaps for them to find in my firing patterns."

"How charitable." Sherman scoffed.

Alkaid just pouted in confusion, as Gracie just patted her arm comfortingly even as she shot the older girl an exasperated look.

Deciding that she wasn't going to bother dealing with whatever confusing nonsense the two were talking about Alkaid decided to pull up a scrying spell to check up on what was going on in the rest of the forest. So far it seemed that Athena Cabin's team was largely pinned down by her barrages though the children of wisdom were figuring out the patterns behind her spells and were starting to exploit them.

 _I knew they would eventually._

More interesting however was the confrontation shaping up at the creek that served as the boundary line between the zones controlled by the two teams. Apparently, Percy was being confronted by some of Pyrrha's siblings led by her second in command Clarisse La Rue. Someone who was rumored to have a score to settle with the boy over an incident involving some toilet water on his first day in Camp.

With a little help from the buff he got when wet, Percy was handling himself surprisingly well as he managed to overpower them despite their superior training and numbers.

The display reminded her of her recent interactions with the boy. After her little public clash with Chiron, young Percy had seemed to get over his awkwardness towards her and began to converse with her on a regular basis. Mainly during dinner and breaks in their activities. The main grievances that seemed to preoccupy the young boy were his adjustment to being a demigod and his mother's 'death'.

Ironically, this led to some pretty awkward conversations seeing as for the former, Alkaid knew who she was as far back as she could remember. As such she couldn't really empathize, instead the jet black haired beauty could console him as a teacher would a student. In regards to the latter, well things got even more awkward. He had actually asked her if she had any idea about where his mother had ended up in the Underworld in the hope that as the daughter of Hades she could offer some insight. Unable to tell him the truth due to the need to keep his mother hostage as leverage for now, she had lied by omission by telling him about how souls were sorted after they died.

Despite her deflections though, the boy didn't seem to catch the hint and talk about anything else. Thoroughly exhausted with the uncomfortable conversations that occurred as a result, the daughter of Hades decided to distance herself from the boy. She could fulfill her mission by observing him from afar. There was no need to put herself through unnecessary difficulty.

 _Though I am a little worried about how he kept asking about the Underworld's layout. It almost sounded like he planned to sneak in, maybe to rescue his mother? He can't be that stupid can he? No demigod could possibly reach the Palace without Father letting him._ Alkaid rolled her eyes. _Then again, he does look like the rash and stupid type._

The green eyed boy seemed modestly upset by the berth she had given him, but it was easily forgotten as he fell into his own crowd of friends around his age. He seemed to click with that Chase girl -Who would give her the stink eye whenever she could - and his satyr guardian, Underwood. Though it seemed the two didn't seem to get along and he was often forced to play mediator. Apparently, the woodland spirit had been Thalia Grace's, Chase's old friend, guardian too but his ineptitude had led to their group getting lost and slowed down enough for Alkaid's Father's army to catch up with them whereupon the Furies had heaped scorn on the satyr for his incompetence for letting them do so. Words that had stuck in the surviving demigods, Luke and Chase, of that disaster to this day.

 _Which is indirectly my fault. If only I hadn't reminded them how useful pointing out the enemy's mistakes to unsettle them could be._ Alkaid thought to herself. Not that she'd ever reveal that little tidbit or any of her part in Thalia Grace's fate for that matter. She very much liked not being mortal enemies with the counselors of Cabins Six and Eleven, thank you very much. She had enough enemies here already.

She was brought out of her musings when her darkvision allowed her to catch glimpses of movement in the distance. Seeing where she was looking, Gracie and Sherman gripped their weapons in preparation for some possible action.

A scorched but relatively fine looking Luke Castellan exited the foliage, huffing and puffing.

"See?" Alkaid smiled at the two, "At least someone of skill managed to see the gaps. Now you don't have to deal with the weaklings."

"We were a group of ten." The scarred blond pointed out as his breathing calmed down.

"Exactly. No riff raff, only the good ones. Or one in this case." Alkaid said with a teasing smile at the older boy.

He wasn't dazzled by it like most men, instead he shot her his own handsome smile in return.

Sherman however seemed to dislike their banter as without a word he charged at the son of Hermes with his Xiphos blade poised to gut him.

Luke was hardly fazed as he dispatched the younger boy as if he was a gnat.

 _See, now that makes sense since Hermes is known for his sword skills._ Alkaid analyzed at the sheer grace the young man wielded with little to no effort.

Gracie watched the whole thing with trepidation, clearly reluctant to engage the young man hailed as the greatest swordsman the Camp had seen in generations.

"Err, Miss Alkaid, a little help." The girl begged as she nervously leveled her spear at the blonde.

"Hm, I'm rather curious how he does against magic. I would suggest some fire Gracie. It's always a staple for a young sorceresses."

"I haven't learned any offensive magic!" Gracie shouted fearfully. "I just came to Camp this summer, I've barely learned anything at all!"

"Oh...remind me to give you a magic lesson in the future please. That just won't do." Alkaid casually asked as Luke advanced on them. "I owe Lady Hecate far too much to not teach her children in return."

"That's nice and all, Alkaid." Luke said with a smirk. "But I don't think it helps Gracie at the moment."

The daughter of Hecate nodded in fierce agreement. Her misty green eyes fearfully eying the blond as he stalked ever closer to her.

Pursing her lips, Alkaid agreed, "That's true. Gracie, focus your magic, point your spear at Luke and shout _Incendio_."

For all that the younger girl was panicking, she followed the instructions of the daughter of Hades' impromptu lesson to the letter and fired off a surprisingly large gout of flame at the son of Hermes.

The jet of fire put the counselor on edge as he backed off, his icy blue eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Wow!" Gracie marveled at the magic she'd just pulled off. "That's amazing. Thanks Miss Al-"

The girl never finished her words of gratitude as Luke capitalized on her distraction to close the distance and in a move straight out of Star Trek used a Vulcan Nerve Pinch to knock her out.

"Now that was mean, Castellan. At least let her feel accomplished before you knock her out."

The blonde just shrugged and smirked with a carefree smirk.

"You gonna try and stop me?"

"Hm, not really, this has been quite boring." Alkaid admitted with a sigh as she laid down on her platform on her side. As if she were the Cheshire Cat looking down at Alice. "I really just want it to end."

It might have been her imagination, but the boy seemed to breathe a sigh of relief upon hearing that.

"Take the flag and do hurry. I wish to go to bed soon." Alkaid dismissed the blonde with a wave of her hand.

"And the magical defenses?" He asked with some stiffness.

The sorceress just snapped her fingers and dispelled the wards. "There, they're down. Take it and go."

Nodding, the son of Hermes hesitantly picked up the blood red flag branded with Ares' symbol and once it seemed he was sure that it was safe, he immediately turned around and broke into a run for his team's territory.

 _Pyrrha will no doubt whine to me about this, but I can't just give her all her victories._ Alkaid sighed as she lay down in utter boredom on her platform. The warm summer air was nice and she was strongly tempted to just take a nap. _Besides, I set up most of it. It's her job to do the rest. I'll just say Castellan had his father's sticky fingers and leave it at that._

The sounding of a horn blared through the woods. It seemed the match was over.

 _At last!_ Alkaid crowed as she shot _Enervate_ at Gracie and Sherman before ushering the two disappointed children towards the growing crowd of revelling Campers as they celebrated Hermes Cabin's victory.

* * *

As the Campers cheered, Alkaid hung back at a distance. After her rough few weeks at Camp, she couldn't really identify with them and thus didn't really feel the need to join in their festivities. Besides, the whole thing was a little over the top and the daughter of Hades, despite years of toning down her obsession with being ladylike, was still too proper to partake in something quite so wild.

Pyrrha walked over, looking a bit scuffed up. Her battered leather armor and exhausted figure held a certain appeal as Alkaid's pouty lips pulled up into a small smile. She was about to say something, but she was cut off suddenly.

A loud terrifying growl put an abrupt stop to the celebrations. As one, all the Campers turned to see a shadow on top of a rocky outcrop deform and transform into a large, black mastiff with glowing red eyes that was the size of a rhino.

 _A hellhound? Here?_

Chiron called for his bow, but Alkaid ignored him and chose to prime her magic instead.

" **Axel Shooter!"** She incanted and sent a dozen magical spheres that closed on the monster from all angles.

The hellhound evaded the magical bullets however by jumping out of the way of the attack and pouncing on Percy instead. Even as the bullets curved back around and slammed into the monster's back and Chiron's arrows turned it into a pincushion, it ignored its mortal wounds to use its jaws to rend right through what little protection his light armor offered him.

The monster melted in shadow, soaking into the ground until it disappeared but it had already all but killed the boy. His body was covered with deep cuts and he was literally bleeding out.

"Di immortales!" Annabeth said. "That's a hellhound from the Fields of Punishment. They don't... They're not supposed to..."

The daughter of Athena shot an accusing look at Alkaid.

"Someone summoned it," Chiron said. "Someone inside the camp."

Luke came over, the banner that he had won in the game just moments earlier in his hand forgotten, his moment of glory gone.

Clarisse yelled, "It's all Percy's fault! Percy summoned it!"

"Be quiet, child," Chiron told her.

"You're wounded," Chase told him. "Quick, Percy, get in the water."

"I'm okay."

"No, you're not," she said. "Chiron, watch this."

As he stepped into the water, the boy's mortal wounds healed right in front of everyone's eyes.

 _Without question, he's either Uncle Poseidon's son or that of some other powerful water deity._ Alkaid thought with amazement at the sheer rate the boy healed. It was extraordinary.

"Look, I-I don't know why, " Percy said, trying to apologize. "I'm sorry..."

 _Look up you daft boy._ Alkaid thought with annoyance at her cousin's foolishness.

"Percy," Chase said, pointing at the symbol hovering over his head. "Um..."

By the time he looked up, the sign was already fading, but he was still able to make out the hologram of green light, spinning and gleaming. A three-tipped spear: a trident.

"Your father," Chase murmured. "This is really not good."

"It is determined," Chiron announced.

All around him, campers started kneeling, even the Ares cabin, though they didn't look happy about it. Alkaid followed and felt pity for the boy once more. Their burden as children of the Big Three was difficult to bear.

 _I can only hope he doesn't crumble from the weight._

"My father?" Percy asked, completely bewildered. His body trembled as he watched the hologram spin lazily and soon flickered into nothingness.

"Poseidon," said Chiron. "Earthshaker, Stormbringer, Father of Horses. Hail, Perseus Jackson, Son of the Sea God."

"All hail." Alkaid grimly noted and rose to her feet, along with everyone else. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see many of the campers looking frightfully at her. As if they were terrified that she would attack Percy for his heritage.

 _Of course they would. After all, I'm the big bad daughter of Hades. What a convenient villain to have on hand._ The elder demigoddess didn't scowl, but her eyes were frightening enough to make those made of weaker stuff back off.

"Alkaid summoned it!" Someone in the crowd shouted, "Who else could do it?"

"Anyone with knowledge to summon them you little shit." Pyrrha snapped at the Camper, looking ready to impale the one who threw the blame at the daughter of Hades.

Most of Ares Cabin agreed with their counselor, instead leveling the blame at Percy but they were drowned out by the voices that accused Alkaid of the crime.

As the number of voices blaming her grew, Alkaid had a sinking feeling in her gut.

Chiron didn't say anything however, his old eyes looking at Alkaid. It was as if he was trying to read her, his face set in a grim visage. That alone spoke volumes to many of the Campers as they edged towards the sorceress, their weapons drawn.

Pyrrha stood in their way, her labrys raised threateningly.

"Stand down, you fools." Alkaid's lover said with a glare. "Or I'll make you."

The campers didn't back down however, thinking they had the could win due to their numbers alone. This proved the height of foolishness for them since Pyrrha wasn't looking too charitable. She aimed her ruby encrusted bracer Miló and unleashed a gout of fire at them.

Some of the campers were burned and fell to the ground where they rolled around in a bid to put out the flames, while the others quickly backed off wary of getting caught up in another blast. This led to their swift downfall as Pyrrha leapt through the flames, and swung the flat of her labrys at them like a club and knocked five campers on their rumps.

"Who else, huh? Come on!" Pyrrha challenged them with bared teeth.

"Enough!" Alkaid commanded with her magical persuasion at full power, her magically infused words quelling many of those in the area, while she put a hand on Pyrrha's shoulder.

"Chiron," The daughter of Hades addressed the Camp's activities director. "Do you have anything to say?"

The centaur just shot her a defiant glare.

That was answer enough for the sorceress and she turned on her heel. Without a word, she stalked off with as much dignity she could muster despite how furious she felt.

 _I understand how Father feels. To be blamed as the villian every time something goes wrong… how in the world has he dealt with that for so long?_

Pyrrha was on her tail as she shouted back, "I thought you were better than this, Chiron! I just lost a crap ton of respect for you!"

"Miss Potter!" Percy called out and Alkaid looked over her shoulder at him. He was pale and was barely standing despite his healing thanks to the power of the creek, still there was a fire in his eyes that she could respect. "You didn't do it, right?"

"...No."

"I believe you." Percy said with confidence. "Take care, okay?"

Alkaid smiled, honored by her cousin's trust in her. "Thank you, Percy. I will."

With that, Alkaid turned around to head back to Cabin Eleven to pack her things.

She and Pyrrha were gone within the hour.

* * *

 **Omake: Pavlov's Demigods**

"Come on, come on, jump Sora! Honestly, where is Tinkerbell for that fly ability?" Alkaid grumbled as she rapidly dodged around so she wasn't killed by Proud Mode Sephiroth.

" _Kaidy! Are you playing another video game!?"_ Pyrrha's exasperated voice called out from the I.M. that materialized a few feet away from the engrossed daughter of Hades.

"Pyrrha?" The gamer replied distractedly. "Did you need something?" She said as she barely avoided being murdered for the seventh time. Still, her Completionist Nature would not give up.

" _Yeah, I wanted to talk."_

"A liiittle busy at the moment." Alkaid said as she went for a Trinity attack.

" _Aw, come on Kaidy,"_ Pyrrha whined, but Alkaid ignored her to focus on her game.

The child of Ares growled in frustration, before trying a different tack. _"You know it's hot over here in Camp. It's almost summer and the sun is beating down on us like crazy, I'm getting all sweaty. Maybe I'm wearing too much clothing..."_

The daughter of Hades paused for a moment, causing her game avatar to freeze and suffer a ton of damage as a result, as she processed that.

"Are you trying to have phone sex with me?" Alkaid asked as she paused her game, stupefied that her girlfriend would go that far.

" _Maybe? I don't know! You're better at this stuff then I am…"_ Pyrrha said with an angry pout. _"All I know is that I want your attention and all you seem to care about is your_ stupid _game!"_

"Pyrrha, I don't care about it more." Alkaid hastily promised, "This is just my _me_ time."

" _Right. So you totally forgot that we were supposed to talk at this time?"_ The daughter of war shot back, crossing her arms angrily.

Alkaid quickly shot a look to the wall and flinched. She'd been playing for twice as long as she'd intended and Pyrrha was right, it was already the time they'd set aside to call each other.

"So it is," The daughter of Hades said trying to play it cool. "I forgot the time."

Pyrrha just huffed in irritation.

"I'm really sorry?"

" _I worry with you gaming so much. You're usually punctual."_

The daughter of Hades winced a bit at that, but tried to keep a poker face. It nettled her to have her flaws pointed out to her, but when her girlfriend did it, it stung more than anything.

"Well, if that's how you feel, how about we continue where you started us?" Alkaid flashed a coy smile as she let the strap of her spaghetti strap slide down her shoulder.

Pyrrha just quirked an eyebrow. _"You think I'm still up for it?"_

Alkaid just blinked in confusion. "But you were just…"

" _Trying to get your attention."_ Her upset lover finished for her. _"Now, if you want any more of that then you're going to turn off that game. If you do, then maybe, just maybe, I'll give you some on our next date."_

"...Cheeky little…" Alkaid grumbled as her lip quirked up.

Oh, her girlfriend was going to feel her _tender_ embrace later. That was without question.

" _Call me whatever you want. Oh, and you've gotta promise to cut down on gaming in general too. Let's say to an hour a day, that good?"_ Pyrrha asked with a smirk.

"That's blackmail!"

" _True,"_ The daughter of Ares agreed. _"But can you at least promise to cut it down? I'm really worried about how much time you spend gaming."_

"If it's for you, how can I say no, you scarlet siren?" Alkaid teased, hoping it would get a blush from the tomboy.

" _G-Good,"_ Pyrrha stammered. _"See you at The Cheesecake Factory this Saturday?"_

And there it was, her lover was on the back foot once again. With her dominance restored, Alkaid waved her finger and turned off her PS2. No one said being the dominant one in their relationship meant there was no give and take. She'd promised Pyrrha to cut down on her gaming and she intended to keep that promise.

"See you then." Alkaid returned with a sultry smile.

" _Y-yeah, see ya."_

The I.M. faded away and it left Alkaid to ponder how else she could surprise her girlfriend.

* * *

 **Done and done! Thanks to the team of Nameless and Axios as always.  
**

 **Nameless: So before we talk about the chapter itself, I feel the need to repeat some things we used to reply to reviewers at the end of the** _ **The Unrelenting Frozen Seas: The Trials**_ **and we think is applicable to this story (not just this fic, but the series as a whole) and Rhode and Andi's stories/series as well.**

 **First, we plan for these sets of stories to be long series that will cover all the way till the end of the Gigantomachy. Ambitious we know, but that's our goal. So when things show up in a book and is left hanging or a character grows to become unlikable suddenly, this is because are set up for exploitation later in series. They are at this point just elaborate foreshadowing. We're setting things in place for future plot points so they don't just come out of nowhere when it's time to introduce them.**

 **Second, let me repeat why the wizards are so weak in our fics. It is mainly a response to holes in Rowling's worldbuilding. Principally the simple inference that with muggles being the dominant people on Earth, and not the wizards, this implies that the muggles are superior. Human nature and history dictates that if the wizards actually were as superior as they, or more accurately their propaganda says, then they should rule and not hide in the shadows like scared rats. In response to this we felt the need to justify this. Since we're crossing with a verse with non-wizarding magicals, many of which are absurdly more powerful than wizards, we just had them side against wizards. Rowling doesn't seem to have given this issue much thought in canon, but if she did she could easily justify this by having the muggles having wizards in their employ (gold is a great incentive and blood can be thicker than water) or other countermeasures against wizards/magic. Not to say that a wizard/muggle conflict if it is allowed to spread won't cause significant damage since some wizarding spells likely will lead to mass muggle, possibly civilian, casualties. But there are many, many more muggles and this possibility will be known and accounted for by muggles (like in this fic where they prioritized an overwhelming first strike precisely to counter this).**

 **Third, our general treatment of the Potterverse is a "slash and burn" critique (and that's how we see it) of it, because in the greater scheme of the world of our fics it is utterly insignificant to the world and to our main characters. This was our intent from pretty early on. We knew that the story would move pretty quickly away from Wizarding Britain and we knew the main characters would not care much about Wizarding Britain once it did since they'd be preoccupied with godly struggles that affect the fate of the world a lot more than the conflicts of one rather small wizarding community. So we decided to go all the way with our critique. It let us do certain things that playing around in the relatively small sandbox provided by the Wizarding World alone would never have allowed. Did it lead to caricatures at times? Of course, that's part of our critique (namely that the Potterverse lends itself very easily to such things because of not so well thought out writing). So we are aware of what we're doing. It's wholly deliberate and we're doing it as fans of the Potterverse. Critiquing it means we care about it and want to highlight flaws and think up ways to fix it. Unfortunately a lot of the solutions we came up with (our fault really) amounts to destroying it but we blame that (perhaps a little too selfishly) on Rowling's poor worldbuilding more than anything else.**

 **Fourth, while certain comparisons between Andi, Rhode and Alkaid's series are likely unavoidable. We would like to remind everyone that they are separate verses. As such, each character's growth should be seen from within** _ **her**_ _ **own context**_ **and not in comparison to that in another series. For example, both Rhode and Andi became emotional messes in their second books because of things that happened to them,** _ **not**_ **because we're duplicating the same stuff. It's a case of convergence, not duplication.**

 **Lastly, our stories are darker and grittier than either the canon Riordanverse or Potterverse because our biggest complaint about the former (where the majority of our story is set) is that it downplayed how dark the original Hellenistic myths are way too much. We're trying to rectify this. So our stories should be more akin to a Warhammer novel than anything else, because that's how dark it got in the myths where challenging the gods is suicidal and any mortal/hero/demigod who attempts it is fighting inevitable defeat. So our choice to write in this style is entirely deliberate. We have tried to tone it down because of reader feedback but we're not abandoning this because we feel it is central to what we're trying to write here. We know many readers used to the Riordanverse and the Potterverse's lighter style won't appreciate it, but we frankly don't care. We have a vision and we're sticking to it.**

 **Now onto the chapter itself. First off, our choice to move things along so quickly from Yancy. We know some people wanted us to cover it in some depth and for us to focus on some interaction with Percy. However, to be frank, there's not much to cover there. For Alkaid, he is first and foremost her student and she would maintain a professional distance accompanied by some curiosity over his heritage. Could we have shown more of this? Definitely, but then we'd slow things down to a degree we didn't really like. It was thus either give more Yancy time or focus on moving the story along. We chose the latter because all the stuff we want to write comes** _ **after**_ **they leave the school.**

 **E4E: Onto Chiron. Know that we are** _ **not**_ **bashing on him. We love the guy, but in** _ **The Lighting Thief**_ **he was clearly so sure Hades was the bad guy. It was kinda of sad. So we translated that here. That combined with his worry for his** **Campers has served to cloud some of his rational judgement about Alkaid. As such, he started seeing her as a threat.**

 **You know what to do! Smash that review button and tell us what you love! No flames and peace off my peeps!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson or Harry Potter.**

 **Consul of the Underworld: Grinding Phase**

 **Chapter Two: Foreign Interference**

 **Beta: ShadowofAxios**

* * *

In a dark cavern deep under the earth, with a gaping chasm at its centre a meeting of dark minds was taking place. As if the dark cavern was not sinister enough, from the maw that dominated the chamber dark energy spilled out into the rest of the underground chamber and filled it with a sense of dread. It was so intense that the average soul would collapse from just a moment's exposure to the evils within.

However, standing at the lip of this abyss of evil was a being that emanated an even more intense aura of foul corruption. The depths of evil that it gave off was so strong that even that flowing from the pit recoiled at his presence. It was enshrouded in shadows with only two balefully glowing red eyes piercing through the darkness it had wrapped around itself like a cloak.

"So we have an accord?" The evil being at the edge of the pit said in a masculine voice.

The only response was a rumbling of the cavern.

The red eyes pierced the depths of the abyss with an amused gaze. "You still haven't found your voice have you?"

The ground shook in irritation at the jape, but the owner simply smirked and in the process revealed a set of remarkably white teeth.

"Now, now, no need to get upset at me for pointing out the obvious."

An annoyed grunt echoed from the depths of the abyss.

"About my proposal?"

A small quiver ran along the ground, causing the creature of darkness to grow a malicious smile.

"Excellent. The girl will be handled. I do not like prey escaping my wraith."

The maw released a yawn that shook the entire area.

"Yes, yes. It will be painful. Or as painful as she will let it be. And of course, your plans will be quite entertaining as well."

A dark chuckle emerged from the depths.

The dark figure in the cavern did not join in though, he just smiled even more broadly as his eyes shone with anticipation.

* * *

In the skies above Half-Blood Hill, a black crow circled as Chiron gave Percy and his companions a salute with his bow as they set off on their quest to retrieve Zeus' Master Bolt. Watching through the eyes of this crow, her familiar Rhip, Alkaid looked on with some trepidation.

The questers didn't look ready. At all.

The dynamic between the trio seemed fraught with tension. Percy and Annabeth Chase were plagued by the problems stemming from the historic rivalry between their godly parents. At the same time, Chase was still furious at the satyr Grover Underwood over his failure when he brought her and her companions to Camp which had led to her friend Thalia Grace's 'death'. Of course, since Percy considered Underwood his best friend, this just added even more friction to his relationship with Chase.

"It's like looking at a trainwreck. I can't avert my eyes." The daughter of Hades pursed her lips as she leaned back in the chair on the balcony of her hotel room.

"Can you stop mother henning the kid?" Pyrrha asked as she walked over with two plates of food in her hands, courtesy of the room service offered by the Hilton Hotel that they had been staying at after leaving Camp Half-Blood a week ago. "You need to keep your energy up, Herbivore."

"So any leads?" Alkaid asked as she cut her connection with Rhip and focused on her veggie entree.

Since being all but chased out of Camp by Chiron, the couple had been working to stop the brewing Olympian Civil War by trying to find the Master Bolt. Personally Alkaid would have preferred looking for her Father's Helm of Darkness, but knew that while retrieving it for her Father would be nice, the Bolt was the key to stopping the war. Besides her sister Melinoe was already out hunting for the Helm and she didn't want to step on her toes by trying to steal her thunder.

"Sadly no." Pyrrha admitted with a frown as she sat across from her on the balcony. "I've pushed on practically every informant on that list we drew up and none of them knew anything useful."

Alkaid sighed. "No surprise. If it was that easy, the gods would have recovered the Bolt already."

"So what's our next move?"

"Now that Zeus has issued his ultimatum and we've exhausted our possible leads, we need to resort to more drastic options."

"Uh, what do you mean? Ask Melinoe for help? Isn't she busy with her own search?" The redhead asked while nervously shifting in her seat. She had always been uncomfortable when it came to Melinoe, the goddess of ghosts. Alkaid's godly sister didn't like her girlfriend and made sure to bring it up every time they saw each other.

"You're not supposed to know about that, you know that right?"

Pyrrha just rolled her eyes. "Like the two symbols being missing at the same time isn't connected? You said it yourself when you explained things to me, a blind man could see it's part of the same plot. If we're looking for one, we're looking for the other."

"True," Alkaid admitted with a small smile at her lover. "Just don't go around advertising that my Father's Helm is missing or he'll take offense. You know you aren't on his good side."

The daughter of Ares paled a little at the prospect and nodded. No one with any sense wanted to offend the Lord of the Dead.

"That said," Said god's daughter continued. "While you were on the right track, what I was actually thinking was that we should take a leaf out of Sister's book and ask the ghosts for some help."

The redhead just quirked a brow in confusion. "Didn't your sister already do that?"

"She's searching for the Helm, Pyrrha, not the Bolt."

"Wouldn't they be together?"

"Maybe," Alkaid hedged. "But we have no guarantee of that. Besides, people have one track minds at times. I know my Sister does when she's focusing on something. Since she's looking for the Helm, she wouldn't ask any questions about the Bolt."

Pyrrha groaned. "That means we've to practically start from scratch doesn't it?"

"Think of it as an adventure!" Alkaid teased, a glimmer of mirth in her eyes.

Pyrrha just shot her a disbelieving look. "You _hate_ adventure."

"But you love it." The sorceress sniped easily.

The child of war just sighed in defeat and began stuffing herself with food from her plate.

"We'll set off after we finish eating." Alkaid said with a victorious smirk.

If the look of annoyance her lover sent her was any indication, she dearly wished to knock it off her face. That just had the brunette beaming even more broadly, as she dug into her own late lunch.

* * *

Interviewing the ghosts that Alkaid had summoned had led them from the base of the Empire State Building along an approximate path for the Bolt all the way through Manhattan and into New Jersey. Not that it had been easy plotting the route out. It had taken them a couple of days doing just that. While the ghosts had been helpfully informative, they couldn't tell the couple what they didn't know and many of them couldn't recognize the difference between the Master Bolt and a particularly fancy light stick. It would have been worse, but thankfully the ghosts nearer Olympus were a little more well informed and gave them a decent starting point. Even then, the demigods had to sort through dozens of leads to get on, what they hoped, was the right track.

Though one constant was that to the spirits, the thief always seemed difficult to describe. At best they managed to give foggy descriptions. Something which was suspicious to the daughter of the dead.

"Jersey, blech." Pyrrha wrinkled her nose as they flew down a road in the State's backwoods on one of Alkaid's magical platforms. Thanks to the Mist, to any mortals that might catch sight of them on this deserted stretch of asphalt, they looked as though they were driving in a car. "Why aren't we using that shadow tunnel of yours?"

"First, it's called Shadow Traveling. Second, it's draining. Thirdly, that's point to point with the intervening distance covered in the shadows. Do you want to miss any potential clues along the way?"

"Argh! Why are all our easy options not options at all?"

"If this was easy, then it would have been resolved ages ago." Alkaid reminded her aggravated girlfriend. "So the last ghost said he saw the thief go down this road, any ideas where he might be heading?"

Pyrrha consulted the map in her hands for a moment. "Anywhere really. This road branches off in every direction, heck there's a major intersection a little ways ahead that leads to the Interstate."

"Where's Hermes when you need him?" Alkaid hung her head. If the god of travel was around, she bet he would have known exactly which way a thief would head to. "I guess we can try our luck at the intersection. Maybe there's a ghost there that's helpful or I can try to scry for any traces of the Bolt that we can follow."

Alkaid cocked her head with a crooked smile on her face, "Let's pray for a dead state trooper or something."

"I'd, um, rather not." Pyrrha confessed as they flew into the intersection.

"Well, we're here." Alkaid said as she stretched out her senses. "Looks like you got lucky. There aren't any ghosts nearby."

This brought a frown to Alkaid's face though. Usually there were ghosts _everywhere_. If not in the immediate vicinity then at least nearby, heck even inhospitable places like Antarctica was crawling with the spirits of the dead as they used their afterlife to go exploring. That there were no ghosts nearby at all, sent alarm bells ringing in the daughter of Hades' head.

"Shame that." Pyrrha grunted as she stretched her arms. "Wish we had one of Cabin Four with us. Maybe they could talk with some grass or something."

"Pyrrha, quiet. Something's wrong." Alkaid hissed as her eyes jumped everywhere around them as she tried to figure out what was the source of the strangeness in the area.

The redhead noted her worried expression and quickly pulled out her Labrys, "What's up?"

"It's quiet, too-"

"Don't finish that. Gods do not or some shit just might happen."

Pyrrha's warning came too late however as three black and white beams with electricity arcing off them in all directions shot down from the sky. Alkaid reacted quickly and swerved them out of the way as the three beams impacted the spot where they'd been hovering, causing a massive explosion that threw them off the platform to crash gracelessly onto the ground.

Pushing herself to her feet, Alkaid looked up to see a quadrupedal three headed dragon that stood as tall as a skyscraper with smooth gold skin with bluish streaks and spikes erupting from multiple spots on its body descend from the sky. It had a pair of relatively small wings that obviously didn't help with its flight and two long, whip-like tails. Its three heads rested atop three long necks and were each capped by an arrangement of horns that resembled a crown.

"...Shit." Alkaid cursed as she grabbed Pyrrha by the wrist and prepared to Apparate.

"Oh no you don't!" Roared the dragon's middle head.

"You're not getting away!" Screeched the head on the right.

"Not before I, Zahhāk, kills you!" Announced the last head.

Unwilling to accept the Persian god's words, Alkaid tried to pop out of there but nothing happened.

 _Damn it! He's blocking teleportation, maybe…_

Desperate to avoid a fight she didn't think she could win, the sorceress tried to open a shadow door. The shadows rose, but stubbornly refused to coalesce into a portal like she wanted.

Her attempts to escape distracted her however and she failed to notice as the dragon swept one of its tails at her like a bullwhip. Fortunately, Pyrrha had recovered enough of her senses to push them both down in time to avoid being cut in half by the god's appendage.

"Dammit, Kaidy, focus on the dragon!"

Teeth grinding, Alkaid spun around and erected a barrier just in time as one of the god's heads breathed a beam of energy at them. The defense only held for a moment, but it was enough for the couple to run a distance away.

"We need to get out of whatever area of influence his teleportation blocker has." Alkaid whispered to Pyrrha, as they were both forced to dive for cover as another of Zahhāk's heads strafed the area in front of them with a beam. "We can't beat him."

"You think he's gonna let us?" Pyrrha shouted back, as she turned to charge at the dragon god. "I say we beat him black and blue."

"I like that girl." The god's right head said cheerfully.

"Yeah." The left head agreed.

"She's suicidally stupid." The centre head added before breathing a torrent of black and white flames directly at Pyrrha.

Not having that, Alkaid quickly erected seven magical circles to absorb the blow of the breath attack. The first five shields were shattered almost instantly. The sixth slowed it down and the seventh held long enough for the breath attack to fizzle out.

"What part of we can't beat him do you not understand?" Alkaid hissed as she turned to level a series of bombardment spells at the god. The heads just smirked and tanked the massively destructive spells without any noticeable damage. "He's a greater god of destruction! Think an Olympian but able to dish out country wrecking levels of power _whenever_ the heck he wants!"

"Such a flatterer!"

"Yes, not many women speak so kindly of our nature."

"All they tend to do is run and scream. It's rather messy."

Pyrrha just looked conflicted, even as the demigods were forced into evasive gymnastics as the god began lashing out with his tails. Alkaid could understand. Her lover's pride and divinely inherited instincts as a daughter of Ares were screaming at her to fight the god head on, but the logical part of her mind was telling her just how stupid that was.

"Why are you here?" Alkaid stated firmly, her voice unwavering despite the massive god before her even as she was forced to use her geokinesis to counter the earthquake the Persian had caused with a single stomp of one of his clawed feet.

"My father sent me." The god's right head said as he breathed fire at Pyrrha who had taken a swing at one of its tails.

The daughter of Ares cursed and rolled back behind the cover of a series of earthen walls that Alkaid pulled out of the ground just in time.

"The great Angra Mainyu!" The left head continued grandly as if the daughter of Ares' narrow escape was not even worth noting.

"He wants to punish you for the slight of escaping his wrath." The middle head informed them with a vicious reptilian smirk even as it beat its wings and conjured a powerful gust.

Alkaid had to use both her magic and grabbing onto a hastily summoned spire of rock to avoid being blown away. Pyrrha however was swept up by the unnatural wind, thankfully she flew past Alkaid and stretching out the daughter of Hades managed to grab hold of her. Many of the trees and the mounting debris created by the fight were not so lucky and were swept up into the impromptu tempest. The couple would have been crushed more than once if not for Alkaid's magical barriers but they strained under the onslaught. Thankfully, the wind died down before they failed entirely.

"And because he thinks it's fun." The dragon's left head said as it surveyed the devastated area with a pleased gleam in its eyes.

"To add more chaos to the mess you Greeks are in." All three heads said in unison, before they broke out in menacing laughter.

"Leave it to bastards like you to take advantage of this madness." Pyrrha spat out as she gripped her weapon firmly as they hid behind a new earthen wall.

 _Don't even think about it, Pyrrha. Tactical withdrawal is our_ only _option._ Alkaid telepathically screamed at her girlfriend.

Her eyes scanned around the area. There had to be a way through. Zahhāk was by no means a god of magic, nor was he particularly smart. Whatever he was using to block teleportation was no doubt set up as sloppily as his speech pattern.

 _It can't stretch very far. We just need to make some distance. If you can't overpower your opponent, then outsmart them. The age old go to for a demigod. Duh Alkaid!_

"Zahhāk I propose a challenge!" The daughter of Hades shouted at the top of her lungs.

Pyrrha looked at her as if she was crazy while Zahhāk stopped laughing, looking intrigued.

"What challenge does one so small wish to propose?" Zahhāk's heads asked as one, their reptilian eyes all glued to Alkaid.

"A simple one but that will still require great skill. A game of tag where you are 'it'."

"Kaidy?" Pyrrha whispered questioningly. Alkaid didn't really have the time to explain, so just gave her lover a reassuring look that tried to convey how this was all part of a plan. By the way the daughter of Ares frowned but gave a nod in understanding, she wasn't sold on the idea but was willing to run with it.

"Tag?" Zahhāk's right head snapped incredulously.

"How is that a challenge of skill?" The left head asked as it tilted its head in confusion.

The middle head, which Alkaid was quickly realizing was probably the only one with anything resembling brains, just hummed in consideration before muttering under its breath.

"They are tiny. Keeping track of them in this forest would be somewhat challenging."

"It is a waste of time. We should eat them." The right head argued.

The left head shook its head and replied. "But that's _boring_! We came here to have _fun_!"

"Shut up, you imbeciles!" The central head shouted at its counterparts. "Can't you see I'm thinking for us?"

 _Almost there. Just a little more..._

Smiling haughtily, the brunette daringly asked, "Are you saying you _can't_ win such a simple game?"

The dragon's great body quivered, as if insulted by her words and that was when Alkaid knew she had him. Them. Whatever.

"What do you two think?" The right head said as he turned to face the other two.

"I think it's fun. This is boring otherwise." The left head agreed with a nod.

"Then it's decided. Run, little demigods! Run!" The middle head roared.

Before Alkaid could even turn, Pyrrha was already next to her. She grabbed her wrist and they started running. A few strides in, Alkaid finished conjuring a platform under them and they flew as fast as they could into the woods that surrounded the area.

"Tag? Seriously?" The daughter of war hissed quietly.

Alkaid shrugged and made a motion with her hand to keep her voice down. She commanded the platform to zig and zag through the trees, in a bid to make it as hard as possible for the god to keep track of them.

It seemed that Zahhāk was giving them a head start, that overconfident ass. Alkaid wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth though and piled on the speed as they swerved through the forest.

 _Hopefully the tree cover will slow him down._

Their reprieve ended when the forest suddenly rumbled as an explosion erupted with a loud bang. The demigods glanced to the side where something had impacted the ground about a half mile away. The resulting explosion threw up a massive mushroom cloud and created a blastwave so strong that even with the distance between them and the point of impact Alkaid's shields barely protected them against it. They would have been blinded too if not for the sorceress' shields tinting just in time to block out the blinding light.

"Was that a nuclear bomb?" Pyrrha gasped.

"Not quite." Zahhāk's left head said sounding sad.

"No radiation. Mazda's rules." The dragon's right head grumbled.

Ignoring his fellows, the middle head smirked triumphantly as it glared down at them as they stood exposed amidst the flattened landscape. "We've found you, little worms."

Acting as quickly as she could, Alkaid had a dome of rock surge out of the earth to cover the platform they were riding. Willing a tunnel beneath them, the couple escaped underground.

"Did I tell you that you are amazing?" Pyrrha told her.

"Every night." Alkaid retorted with a shaky smile.

A sudden rumble entered the girls' ears as the earth suddenly shifted upwards and the earth around them began to churn as if in a giant blender.

Only her demigod reflexes saved them, as acting on pure instinct Alkaid threw up her hands and surrounded them in a spherical barrier.

"Was that a bunker buster?" Pyrrha whispered in shock.

"A what?" Alkaid asked as their protective bubble pushed its way out of the ruined earth. Moving this much earth with her geokinesis was tiring, especially after the exhausting fight so far, what more doing so while also maintaining a magical defense.

"A bomb that detonates underground and that causes the earth to collapse, destroying everything undergr-" Pyrrha explained as they surfaced only to cut herself off as they both realized they had appeared right in front of Zahhāk's massive dragonic form.

"Found you again, little toys." The god's middle head said while his counterparts smirked down at the demigods hungrily. Wicked tongues washed over their large teeth as they salivated at the prospect of a meal.

"Indeed, it calls for a reward." Alkaid swiftly said as drew a card from her pocket and tossed in the direction of the god.

The card flew between the heads as their eyes all rotated to look at it. The moment they did, it exploded in a blinding ball of magical light right in front of the god's six eyes. He howled in pain as he was blinded and begun stomping around drunkenly.

"Go go go!" Pyrrha shouted as once more the couple fled on the magical platform, the wind whipping their hair back as they weaved through fallen rocks and trees.

Her heart pounding in her ribcage, the green eyed woman focused on going as fast as possible. Pyrrha held her hand tightly and just that small piece of comfort gave a boost to Alkaid's confidence.

They were forced to swerve to the side as a beam of raw energy cut overhead. Glancing over her shoulder, Alkaid saw that Zahhāk had responded to being blinded by firing off attacks in random directions. He was alternating between energy beams, gouts of fire, the occasional orb of energy that flew into the distance to explode like the pseudo nuclear bomb from earlier or cigar shaped projectiles that impacted the ground and threw up massive eruptions of earth like small volcanoes.

 _Come on, we have to be out of his radius by now right?_ Alkaid thought as she attempted to Apparate once more. Once again, nothing came of it and frustration gnawed at her.

" **You will not escape!"** The three heads roared with such godly fury that the whole world seemed to shake in response. Panic crumbled what little hope Alkaid had to escape this monstrosity of a god as she turned just in time to see it unleash a wall of fire.

The light from the black and white flames it breathed from all three heads reflected off the god's scales to make him seem like he was surrounded by a strange, terrifying aura even as the wall of flame spread out from Zahhāk's form in every direction like a tidal wave.

"Faster, Kaidy! Faster!" Pyrrha screamed as she turned to watch the deadly firestorm closing in on them.

"I'm trying!" Alkaid gritted her teeth as she pushed her magical transport faster than she had ever tried. Sweat rolled down her back as the closing wall of fire began to affect them.

"Kaidy, it's closing! Faster!"

Alkaid just gritted her teeth and pushed her magical transport even harder.

The heat of the flames were starting to causing the demigods' skin to burn when Alkaid finally sensed them passing the edge of Zahhāk's wards. It felt like little more than a slight tingle over their skin, but it was more than enough of a sign for the sorceress.

As the fires were inches from washing over them, Alkaid felt Pyrrha moving to shield her with her body. If she hadn't been pouring all her focus into keeping them alive, the daughter of Hades would have smiled at the gesture, pointless though it probably would be if the fire caught up to them.

With an effort of will, the shadows in front of them shaped themselves into a portal that their magical platform shot through and into the safety of the Underworld. However, as they crossed the threshold to safety a dark, malicious voice echoed through their minds.

 _ **I'll get you next time.**_ Zahhāk said telepathically before cutting off with a cruel laugh.

Even as the girls tumbled onto the polished floor of Hades' palace, they shivered at the monstrous god's deadly promise. Lying on the floor, the sweaty, exhausted girls panted as they tried to recover from their narrow escape from the one-sided fight.

Shakily getting to her knees, Pyrrha scrambled over to Alkaid. Tears stained her reddish-brown eyes as she smiled at her. Feeling a smile tug at her own lips, Alkaid returned the look as the well built girl pulled her into a tight embrace.

A clearing throat had them both spinning around to see Hades looking down at them with a curious look on his face.

"Would someone explain to me what happened?" The Lord of the Dead demanded.

Both demigods exchanged a look.

"We tracked the Bolt and got jumped by the Persian god, Zahhāk." Alkaid said tiredly from the ground. "I'll explain more later, but right now I need a bath and a good nap."

"Fine. I will get you seperate rooms."

"Too tired to do anything anyways." Pyrrha said as she tiredly helped Alkaid to her feet.

The daughter of Hades nodded in agreement. She was dead on her feet and she was pretty sure Pyrrha was feeling the same.

All she wanted was a nice fluffy bed and silk sheets. She could worry about everything else like why Zahhāk was suddenly butting into Olympian affairs later.

Right now, Alkaid just needed rest.

* * *

 **Omake: The After Camp Special**

"I still can't believe Chiron did that to you!" Pyrrha fumed as she all but collapsed onto a couch of the suite the couple had checked into at the Hilton.

"I'm not really that surprised." Alkaid said as she began casting a set of wards over the room. "He's not exactly the most unbiased person in the world."

"True, but I never thought- Argh! I'm just so damn pissed at the moment!"

"Trust me. I will not let this slide." Alkaid cooly noted as she finished her warding and sat on the bed, one leg crossed over the other. "An eye for an eye."

Pyrrha nodded in agreement.

"Though I might just need something to do to stop me from acting out on my anger." The daughter of Hades suggested with a heated look at her lover.

Her aforementioned lover just shot her an incredulous look in return. "How can you even be thinking of that right now?"

"Angry sex can be pretty good I hear." The sorceress said in a sultry voice as she shifted into full on seductress mode. "And I'm not kidding about needing a distraction, without it I am liable to teleport back to Camp just to snipe that idiot centaur with a shooting spell. Immortal or not."

Pyrrha swallowed heavily at this, but with the way that her cheeks slowly turned a rosy red Alkaid knew she had her attention. Aiming to stoke her girlfriend's ardor even more, she let her eyes roam the redhead's body with unconcealed want.

"If you say so." Pyrrha grinned as she stood up and walked over, only to be halted when Alkaid's foot held her back.

The daughter of Hades smirked. _Almost there._

"Wait just a bit, Py. Do you think normal sex, even normal angry sex is good enough for me right now?" The brunette asked with a coy pout.

The libidinous daughter of Ares just groaned in frustration.

 _That's right, play to my fiddle._

"Enough with the games, Kaidy! You've got me in the mood and now you're stalling?" Pyrrha growled out. "Out with it! What do ya want?"

"Professor Potter would like to continue detention from last time, Miss Branwen." Alkaid said with a seductive smile as she summoned the specially tailored Catholic schoolgirl uniform she had prepared for just this kind of situation onto the bed beside her.

"Kinky little minx." Pyrrha grumbled, but her flaming cheeks betrayed her. "Fine, if that's what it takes to get me my angry sex then toss 'em here."

With a flick of her finger, the clothes landed in Pyrrha's hands who headed off towards the bathroom to change.

 _Such a shy thing at times._ Alkaid allowed herself to giggle as she transfigured her own clothes.

Gone was the ridiculous orange Camp Half-Blood shirt and jean shorts. They were replaced by more proper attire. She was now sporting a tight blouse that pushed her bust up that was matched by her college blazer that hung off her shoulders. Her long legs were clad in alluring pantyhose and covered by a short pencil skirt.

"Miss Branwen~! Are you ready?" Alkaid called out in an authoritative tone.

"Just a second!" Pyrrha snapped and it caused the brunette to giggle quietly.

A few minutes later, the bathroom door opened up. Pyrrha walked out with an aggressive stance, no doubt eager for what was to come to blow off some steam.

She was dressed in a white blouse a size too small that barely kept the redhead's bust from bursting out for all to see, this was paired with a red and gold striped tie and kilted skirt that was scandalously short. The outfit was completed by a set of white knee socks and a pair of Mary Janes.

Alkaid couldn't resist licking her lips at the sight.

"You are late, Miss Branwen. I will have to be most strict with you." Alkaid said sternly as she stood up and walked up to circle her lover as if checking her attire.

"Y-Yes Professor Potter." Pyrrha shuffled where she stood before holding back a excited squeal as Alkaid poked her harshly in the chest once.

"What's with this blouse? Why is it so tight? Are you trying to look like a hooker?" Alkaid said in character, even as she leered at her lover's perky breasts for a moment before her gaze dropped lower.

"And why is your skirt so short?" The brunette added, as she flipped the skirt. "Are you trying to flash everyone?"

"Not everyone." Pyrrha replied, getting into the flow of their game. She had a shy look on her face, but the hunger was clear in her eyes.

"Oh? Desperate to entice someone in particular, girl?"

"Yes," The daughter of Ares said with confidence. "You."

"A daring little trollop, aren't you?" Alkaid said with a smirk as she lifted her lover's chin between her fingers and leaned in to plant a rough kiss on her lips.

And so a night of wild and angry passion began.

* * *

 **Done and done! Thanks to the team of Nameless and Axios as always.**

 **And so the hunt for the Bolt and Helm begins! Despite their removal from Camp, Alkaid isn't one to simply let things lay. After all, ghosts know more than one would think. So our wonder duo is off to do what they can to help end the possibility of WW3.**

 **Nameless: This chapter might seem a little short but that's because we wanted to focus on the fight with Zahhāk and ended up overdoing it a little. We did try to add on a little here and there to make things more substantial and closer to what we normally release. Hopefully it wasn't too short for your tastes.**

 **The game of cat and mouse was mostly all Al and Py could do since this guy was basically as powerful as one of the Big Three. You do not fight that, you run from that. And so they did and barely made it to home plate with their lives.**

 **Nameless: So just to clarify the whole god of destruction thing. Basically we're saying Zahhāk is like Typhoon. He can dish out way more punishment than an average divinity without breaking any rules and getting slapped down for it.**

 **For the full lemon version of the omake, check it out on AO3 under** _ **The After Camp Special (Lemon Version)**_ **by NamelessEngine.**

 **Well you know what to do! Smash that review button and tell us what you love! No flames and peace off my peeps!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson or Harry Potter.**

 **Consul of the Underworld: Grinding Phase**

 **Chapter Three: Smoking Hot Vegas**

 **Beta: ShadowofAxios**

* * *

After their near death at the hands of Zahhāk, the couple had taken a nice hot shower to relax. Separately unfortunately, but Hades would have tolerated nothing else. Later that night, after a quick dinner, just as the couple were gathering in Alkaid's room to go over their next move they received a guest.

"Alkaid Potter, Pyrrha Branwen," Hermes, messenger of the gods, greeted as he suddenly materialized in the middle of the room. "I bear a message from the Olympian Council."

His unexpected appearance had startled both girls, though they reacted quite differently. Alkaid had simply raised a brow in surprise, while her lover had jumped to her feet and summoned her labrys to hand ready to cut the intruder down if necessary.

If the god was affected by their display, he made no sign. A fact that was troubling. Hermes was well known for his sense of humor, as such his decision to say nothing even in the face of such a response spoke of just how serious the message he was delivering must be. And if he'd manifested directly into their room rather than her Father's throne room and asked to see them, then it had to be urgent as well.

"Lord Hermes," Alkaid greeted, standing and offering him a formal bow while nudging her girlfriend to do the same. "What has the Council to say to us?"

The god returned the women's bows with an acknowledging nod of his own before delivering his message.

"Alkaid Potter, Pyrrha Branwen, you are hereby tasked as Olympian Ambassadors-at-Large to stop the interference in Olympian affairs by the forces of the Zoroastrian god of All Evils, Angra Mainyu."

As he finished, the god's stern demeanour melted away and was replaced by the more laid back attitude he was known for.

"Has there been other attacks?" Alkaid asked, filing away the news about the apparent title that she and Pyrrha had been conferred for later and focusing on the matter at hand.

"Minor squabbles. Zahhāk's minions nosing around New York and the States at large and running into our people. That kind of thing. It tends to happen sometimes, but in the past few weeks it's gotten too common to be coincidence and it's growing worrisome. At least the more sensible ones of us think so." Hermes said, sparing Pyrrha an exasperated look.

"Sorry about him." Pyrrha frowned, looking embarrassed about her dad's behavior.

"Ares is an idiot. I'm used to it." Hermes shrugged. "At least he voted with us on taking action, even if it's only because he's spoiling for a fight like always."

Alkaid ignored the the talk about the war god. Instead, she focused on the way Hermes had described the Persians' actions. It seemed oddly similar to what they'd been doing recently.

"Are they looking for something?"

Hermes looked at her with a pleased look in his eyes and nodded. "We think so, though we can't be sure."

Pyrrha blinked in surprise. "Are you telling me the thief didn't just steal from the Olympians but from the Persians too!?"

"Quite possibly." Hermes said with a grim nod. "And judging by the way they are using the Empire State as a reference, used whatever was stolen from them to help steal the Master Bolt."

"That's most impressive." The daughter of Hades said, giving credit where it was due.

"I know right." Hermes agreed. "Whoever this thief is I'm tempted to give him my blessing."

Even as the words left his mouth, the god flinched.

"Uh. Right, I meant curse him. That's right, curse him for stealing my esteemed Father's symbol of power." The god backtracked while looking skyward at the bedrock ceiling.

A moment later he breathed a sigh of relief, apparently having appeased Zeus.

"The guy might be good, but he's an idiot." Pyrrha snorted. "Pissing off two pantheons at once? That's suicide."

"Well, if the payoff is good enough…" Hermes trailed off and shot a nervous look above him. "But I'll never do it! It's never worth it. Never!"

Alkaid and Pyrrha exchanged a look. It seemed that the god of thieves was so enamoured with the thief that he couldn't contain himself. By unspoken agreement, they decided to not mention it though. Neither wanted to get on his bad side, besides if he did somehow say something to get him in trouble with Zeus… Well, both their divine parents could stand to do with some entertainment at his expense.

"It's not worth it. Not unless you enjoy eternal torture. You'll be dead sooner or later, after all." Alkaid said with a smirk as she thought of all the cruel and unusual punishments her Father would undoubtedly use on the thief when he got his hands on him.

"Which is just terrible. I'm sure." Hermes nodded nervously.

"It is," Alkaid assured him. "You should visit the Fields of Punishment. Father says you haven't done so in centuries. He's made quite a few upgrades since then."

The god of travellers paled at the prospect and shook his head quite violently.

"So, um, any questions for me?" The shaken god asked, looking eager to leave.

"Just one. Why are we charged with dealing with other pantheons?" Alkaid said in a whine. She didn't want to sound like a child, but this was frankly a terribly large task for a _demigod_. A god could easily act as the intermediary for such dealings.

This seemed to prompt Hermes back to serious mode as his face regained its complexion and grew stern.

"Listen to me, Cousin, Niece. You two aren't some run of the mill beat the enemy of the moment heroes. No, both of you are meant for something more difficult. Your fates are to manage and balance the Olympians' many enemies among the other gods. It is your duty to ensure these enemies do not become threats to the destiny of Western Civilization."

"And my Lord Uncle thought this was for the best?" Alkaid asked, just to be sure. It felt as though he was embellishing just a bit.

The messenger god rolled his eyes, "It took some talking, but Athena made her case and well, Father knows when to listen to his brain baby. That and the Fates might have given Apollo a vision or two to help your case."

"The Fates?" Pyrrha gasped incredulously, even as Alkaid paled. If the Fates themselves had weighed in on the matter… Well, there was no second guessing those who weaved the future of the world was there? Though to sway the stubborn Olympians into doing something like this, the future foretold by the vision must have been dire indeed.

Hermes nodded grimly.

"Great. Where do I sign up?" Alkaid dryly asked.

Hermes snapped his fingers as a contract appeared. It was a long, roughly 12 feet parchment that curled at the end. At the bottom was a section for her signature.

"Just sign on the dotted line!" He said with a teasing smile.

"So sell my soul?" The daughter of Hades quipped with a raised brow as she eyed the words on the parchment to find that they contained nothing but a bunch of movie quotes.

"...Just sign on the dotted line!"

"We'll take the job."

Hermes clapped his hands, a handsome smile on his face, "And once again, my job is done."

* * *

Alkaid finished chanting the appropriate magical words of the ritual over the large brazier of fire she'd set up at the centre of the room to call upon the presence of Ahura Mazda, Zoroastrian god of Creation.

"Hopefully he's taking calls," The brunette mumbled as she stared at the roaring flames before her.

It only took a moment before the fire flared and reshaped itself into the image of a handsome human head that floated over the still burning logs that fed it.

" _Greetings, you've reached Ahura Mazda. Leave a message."_

"For real? Ugh, hello Lord Mazda. It's Alkaid Potter-"

" _I'm here, I'm here! I swear, Mithra and his confounded attempts at efficiency."_ The floating head sighed dejectedly as his flaming eyes addressed her, _"Ah, Lady Potter. So good to see you after all this time. May I ask the nature of your call? I'm currently settling several other disputes at the moment."_

"Apologies for troubling you, Lord Mazda." Alkaid said respectfully. "But this is important."

" _I do not doubt it, my dear. Someone as responsible as you would not trouble me for anything trivial."_

Alkaid didn't fluster, but she did offer a small smile at the compliment.

"Indeed. I have had some rather hostile dealings with Zahhāk recently and wish to bring it to your attention. He nearly killed myself and companion. This was also not the only incident. We have received multiple reports of his subordinates trespassing into our domain. I would like to know whether you could enlighten me on this matter."

" _Ah!"_ The Persian god replied, _"I was wondering when the Olympians would speak to me on this matter."_

"Indeed." Alkaid inclined her head and offered for him to continue.

" _I cannot give you details as that would compromise the investigation, but I can say that Zahhāk is acting on orders from myself and Mainyu. He is acting with our authority and within our own rights."_

"Has something been stolen?" Alkaid said, trying to finagle a clearer picture of what was going on from the god.

" _I cannot confirm or deny this."_ The god of light and good stated. _"But if there was a theft, it would have to be something very sacred to our pantheon for us to allow such invasive behavior."_

The daughter of Hades was surprised, that was more enlightening then she'd expected.

"I see. Thank you for informing me of this. I shan't bother you any further, my Lord. A pleasant day to you."

" _And to you."_ With that, the floating head broke apart and returned back into the fire.

As the firecall ended, Alkaid sighed in frustration. While the Persian god was more forthcoming than she'd expected, she still knew far too little about what was motivating the incursions than she liked.

Taking a seat in the chair she'd pulled into the room when she'd set it up, the green eyed girl rubbed her temples in thought.

"Okay, so something is stolen and I need to find it. Not like the Master Bolt and the Helm of Darkness is missing or anything."

"Still keeping an eye out for that glowing vibrator?" A teasing voice asked.

"Melinoe, sister dear, _please_ do not refer to the Master Bolt as such." Alkaid sighed as she turned to see her godly sister walking into the room looking immensely amused.

The goddess was in the guise of a teenager today. She was dressed in the punk/gothic attire she loved to wear. In fact, if Alkaid wasn't wrong she was cosplaying as Death from DC's Sandman.

"What? It totally is. I bet Hera gets a real kick out of that thing." She sniggered as she stepped into the room. She sat next to her as her golden eyes glimmered with mirth, "So why are you even talking to the Persian god of Creation? He's sort of a bore."

"And he is also someone who can help me figure out what is going on. Or at least that was the plan but he was being cagey with anything useful."

Melinoe leaned her head on her shoulder and said, "Well of course he's not going to spell it out for you. He's a god. We don't exactly tell you mortals all the facts. Like ever. Takes the fun out of watching you trying to figure stuff out on your own. Watching you scramble around is half the fun."

A small growl rumbled in Alkaid's throat. She knew that!

"Shouldn't you be out searching for Father's Helm, Sister?" The demigod tersely noted.

The goddess grinned broadly as she fell back on the couch she'd just conjured across from Alkaid.

"Did you forget? Gods can be in more than one place at a time. All that time with mortals is making you stupid, lil sister of mine."

"Hmph."

"Besides, my sister nearly got herself killed. So, as the older, more responsible sister-"

"Ha."

"-I felt I should check up on you."

Alkaid rolled her eyes.

"As you can see I'm fine."

"And I'm glad for that." Melinoe said as she looked around the room. "So where's your girlfriend?"

"Pyrrha is out in the training yard, doing her morning workout." The younger sister informed, "She's working out the kinks from the near death experience."

"Really now?"

"Yes and her not being here is why you are here right now. So drop the hardcase routine," Alkaid stated with a frown. "You don't need to pretend to scare her into 'treating me right'. Not that I honestly think you need to do that at all in the first place."

"Hm." Melinoe said noncommittally, rolling around on the couch and stretching like a cat, "It's good to have you back home. The thought of you stuck at that pisshole of a Camp annoyed me. Made me want to visit and scare the shits there out of their mind. Would have done it too if Dionysius wasn't there to get in the way."

"Oh I know what you mean!" Alkaid huffed, crossing her arms over her bosom. "It felt like a jail with the awful orange attire and not to mention the incredibly biased staff!"

The two sisters shared a laugh at the expense of Camp Half-Blood.

As Alkaid was still catching her breath from their shared laugh, Melinoe jumped in with another teasing comment. "So heard you had some dragon trouble recently. You know, you could just try seducing him. Someone as ugly Zahhāk can't possibly be getting much."

The demigod looked ill at the very notion, "I'm not into dragons. Their rough hide is probably uncomfortable."

Undeterred, in response Melinoe made exaggerated humping noises and dragon growls.

"Stop it."

The goddess did so, but still grinned like a fool. "Fine, fine. You're into piglets instead right?"

Pinching the bridge of her nose, Alkaid pleaded, "Would you please stop talking about my girlfriend like that? Pyrrha is nervous enough as it is whenever she sees you and the rest of the family. All of you are so in her face with how you lot think that she isn't good enough for me that it's annoying."

"Whatever." Melinoe grunted as she crossed her arms in annoyance. "Fine, if it makes you feel better, Kaidy, I'll back off. Only a little though!"

Alkaid offered her a bright smile at this.

"Still think you could do way better though." Melinoe grumbled, "I know a few willing goddesses that have been asking me to hook you up with them."

Sighing in frustration, Alkaid glared at her sister.

"Sister. I think I've made my opinion abundantly clear about this. In the end, the decision of who I date is up to me and I'm happy with my choice for now."

"Yeah, I know. Can you blame a sister for caring about her little sister's well-being?"

"When she's being overly pushy? Yes, yes, I can."

"So that's a no to the orgy?"

"Sister!"

* * *

The following week was a troublesome one. After their harrowing encounter with Zahhāk, it seemed that the Persians were determined to make Pyrrha and Alkaid's lives miserable.

Just a day after fighting the dragon god, they'd had to fight off Daevas as they prepared to attack Argus while he delivered Camp Half-Blood's strawberries in the Camp's delivery van. Then they had to scare off Shahmaran, the king of snakes and his swarm of serpents as he led them on a rampage through St. Louis while Percy and his questmates were laying over in the city. They'd only managed that by transfiguring a horde of mongooses while they fought off the deadly serpentine sovereign.

 _Though seeing Pyrrha running around transfiguring litter into little furry critters while complaining about how that wasn't what she'd thought her Hogwarts education would prepare her for was hilarious._ Alkaid thought as she smirked at the memory.

"You're thinking about St. Louis, aren't you?" Pyrrha accused with a pout. Her reddish-brown eyes narrowed in suspicion. "I still don't see what's so funny."

"It's just I've never seen you whine so much at one time before. I just couldn't help but be amused."

"Yeah, well, next time you do something funny, I'll tease you too."

"Go right ahead, Red." Alkaid shot back easily. "Fair's fair. Besides, I can take a joke."

"Yeah, right." Pyrrha scoffed, before turning somber. "You feeling better? You got banged up pretty badly yesterday."

That was something of an understatement. The couple had faced off against a pack of ghouls that had tried to turn Denver into a city of the dead while pretending to be part of a zombie walk. A fact that just went to show how different the Persian monster was from the pop culture imagining of the creature as a brain dead walking corpse.

Unfortunately, they also used their intelligence to pull a nasty trick on them yesterday. Not only had they blended into the crowd of mortals in the walk they'd organized as cover, they'd also pretended to obey Alkaid's commands as a daughter of Hades to lure her into a false sense of security. When she'd pulled a number of them out from the crowd and into a nearby alley where they could be disposed while out of sight, they'd suddenly attacked them and beat up the unprepared sorceress pretty badly before being finally taken down.

Alkaid looked to the side, her lips curled into a frown, "I'm fine. I feel more embrassassed than anything. I guess I'm just so used to the undead heeding my words. A little shocked if anything. I'll recover."

"You absolutely sure? Or are you 'fine' like yesterday when you were barely hanging on but still insisted on hunting them down in the crowd?" Pyrrha asked worriedly.

The brunette chuckled and grasped her lover's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"You know me, I'm _very_ stubborn."

Pyrrha grunted, but nodded as her own hand tightened around hers, "I would say crazily stubborn. Still, who am I to judge on that one? Hehe."

"Besides," Alkaid said with a worried frown. "We've got a right to be worried. I'm not the only one who can see how the monsters seem to be following Percy and his questmates, right?"

Pyrrha nodded with her own frown. "Yeah."

"He seems to be a trouble magnet." Alkaid sighed, placing a hand on her cheek dramatically.

"So just like you?" Pyrrha accused.

"Worse." The daughter of Hades replied, her frown deepening. "Which worries me."

" _And it seems you'll have to worry even more."_ The voice of Hermes said his own tone riddled with concern from a I.M. that came into being in the middle of Alkaid's room.

"Let me guess, Lord Hermes." Alkaid said with frustration. "The Persians are attacking Percy again."

The god just nodded.

"I must say, it is getting rather ridiculous." Huffed the child of Hades, "If we ever want this to end, we must find the relic that was taken. Have you heard anything, Lord Hermes?"

" _Unfortunately not."_ Hermes sheepishly smiled.

Alkaid's nose wrinkled, but she said no more of the topic. If Hermes had nothing, then there was no point in pushing the matter.

"Is there anything else you need to inform me of?"

" _It's Aži Zairita, the yellow dragon, this time."_

"Who is that and where?" Pyrrha asked, some excitement in her voice.

Alkaid rolled her eyes, _Typical Pyrrha. I don't see the thrill of dragon slaying._

" _A massive magma breathing dragon. Sorta like a super sized spiked tortoise roughly the size of a hill. Did I mention the spikes and magma? Yeah, there's a lot of that. You know that right?"_

Hermes' words cut any of her girlfriend's excitement.

"Err…" Pyrrha said with hesitation. "I know now."

"And the location?" Alkaid asked.

" _The thing is marching towards the Lotus Hotel and Casino. Where a certain cousin of ours is currently enjoying a break from his quest, Alkaid."_

The daughter of Hades' eyes narrowed, "That boy, I swear! How could he just walk into the blasted Lotus. What is that daughter of Athena doing?"

The Lotus Hotel was arguably one of the most dangerous places in the world. It was the current form of the home of the Lotus-eaters, who were a tribe of people addicted to the flowers of the magical Lotus Tree which when eaten made one lose track of time. Literally. Those who consumed them found themselves literally out of time, with years passing while they experienced mere moments.

" _To be fair, they were, uh,"_ Hermes struggled to come up with an excuse for the young demigods.

"Kaidy, Lord Hermes! We can talk about this later! Percy and the others are in danger!"

" _Exactly! Listen to your lady friend, Cousin. Head to the City of Sin. Chop chop, gotta go!"_ Hermes ended the I.M. in a rush as the image faded.

"Hmph, how typical." Alkaid mused as she turned to Pyrrha, "To Vegas then? Hopefully Percy manages to get out of there."

"Let's go." The redhead nodded.

* * *

As the teleportation spell released its hold on them, Alkaid and Pyrrha materialized onto the scene of a growing disaster. Aži Zairita, the yellow dragon was a massive, magma breathing tortoise monster whose shell looked like a hill and whose scaly hide was punctuated by a whole host of spikes just like Lord Hermes said. It really deserved its moniker too as its whole body including its long tail that was easily half again as long as the rest of its body was a dull yellow color.

"...Alright it's actually pretty freaking huge." The redhead confessed with astonishment in her eyes.

"He's actually bigger than Cerberus. Hm, impressive." Alkaid examined the great beast. She wondered how hard it's shell was. Already her mind was coming up with ways to put it down.

Pyrrha had a nervous look in her eyes, "What are we going to do about the mortals?"

The daughter of Ares pointed to the many cars that were honking at the dragon. They were filled with people shouting and cursing about oversized dump trucks, road work, and everything in between.

This shouting seemed to piss off the dragon as it stopped to breathe a stream of magma over the long line of cars.

Even from a distance, a rush of heat tingled Alkaid's cheeks as the river of molten rock washed over the unfortunate mortals.

"Run! That asphalt is burning hot!" A panicked voice echoed from the crowd of fleeing commuters.

Crashes rang out all around, as people all along the famous Las Vegas Strip stampeded away from the rampaging minor god.

Not everyone seemed to understand the danger though, as instead of ditching his vehicle like every other sensible person did in the face of the walking disaster, the driver of a lone yellow hummer was still desperately trying to drive out of there. It was hopeless though as he was blocked on all sides by abandoned cars.

This meant he was still trapped in his precious ride as Zairita decided it made for a nice snack and bent its long head down to bite it in half.

Looking horrified, the daughter of war turned towards her girlfriend, "This thing has to have a weakness, right? Because I'm not seeing one."

With a troubled expression, Alkaid confessed, "I'm not too sure myself. For now, we should treat it as any other monster with a high defense."

"So basically bombard it until it's dead?"

"You know me so well." Alkaid smirked as she summoned dozens of magical circles in the air above her.

" **Hyperion Smasher!"** Alkaid shouted as a barrier screen was generated in front of her and Pyrrha even as the magical circles unleashed thick beams of green energy that slammed right into the hill sized dragon with immense force.

Despite that the spell failed to kill the monster, instead all the powerful bombardment achieved was chipping off small chunks of its hill like shell.

"Please tell me that was a warm-up shot?" Pyrrha asked as her knuckles turned white around her labrys' shaft.

The blow might not have done much damage but it seemed to have succeeded in garnering the dragon's attention as it lumbered around to look at them while rearing its head back.

"No." Alkaid admitted even as like a walking volcano, the dragon breathed a ball of lava at the couple.

Seeing the molten rock, Alkaid raised her hands in the air and attempted to manipulate it. Even if it was liquified, magma was still just earth.

"Kaidy, we've gotta move!" Pyrrha shouted at her, but the daughter of Hades continued her attempt even as the massive ball of flaming rock flew at them.

Sadly, no matter how hard she tried, the earth would not obey her call.

Pyrrha grabbed her around the waist and the two appeared at the other end of the street in a loud pop.

"What the hell happened?" The redhead asked as she released the emerald eyed girl. "I thought as a daughter of Hades you'd totally be able to control a little lava."

Huffing, Alkaid said, "I'm not highly specced in geokinetics. Plus, the dragon _is_ a minor god to boot. I was arrogant to think I could manage to take control of Zairita's attack."

Their clothes were smoldering and it was only thanks to the protections that Alkiad had cast on them beforehand that they weren't roasted alive.

As they recovered and tried to think up a new plan, the yellow mass of muscle seemed to have decided to ignore them and move on. It's lumbering steps shook the streets, scattering the still far too many mortals on the scene.

"That utter bastard." Pyrrha said in annoyance even as Alkaid bristled at being outright ignored.

"We have to draw it away." Alkaid reasoned, summoning a new set of magic circles around her right wrist while she focused her magic through her Grimoire that she held in her left hand. "Not just the Lotus but out into a place with less mortals."

The five magical circles began rotating around her wrist as they finished charging up and she snapped her book closed.

" **Claíomh Solais!"**

Five intense emerald beams screeched through the air and blasted into the beast's flank. Each beam sent shockwaves through the air and even managed to cause Zairita to stumble for a moment.

Thankfully, the attack achieved its purpose and drew his attention as the dragon's low rumbling growl filled the air. This was followed by the dragon rearing up on its hind legs and slamming his front legs into the ground causing a minor earthquake even as a forest of sharpened spires of rock shot out of the earth under the two demigods.

The girls were prepared for a counterattack though and the moment the earth began to shake, they both apparited to safety.

"He's a turtle right? We should flip him." Pyrrha suggested as she inched in front of Alkaid to play the role of protector the moment they reappeared some distance away from the dragon.

Smiling at the simplicity of the idea, Alkaid agreed, "Excellent idea. Let's just hope it isn't dexterous enough to get back up. It would keep it here though, so we'll need to clear the area. Can you get the mortals out of the area while I set that up?"

The daughter of Ares grinned and pulled out her wand as she pointed it at the still large crowd of mortals in the area, " _Fac Timore_ (Create Fear)!"

The spell unleashed a wave of ghastly red from the wand that washed over the crowd of mortals. Everywhere the light touched it caused mass panic within the already frightful crowd. Motorists and curious bystanders began to flee while those that were already running for their lives picked up the pace.

Focusing on the earth below the dragon, Alkaid focused her power and caused the road below its left side to rise up right underneath Zairita's feet. This startled the overgrown tortoise and it didn't respond in time before the change in footing began to cause it to tilt. When the monster was lifted high enough off the ground, the sorceress aimed another spell to send it crashing onto its back.

Snapping her Grimoire open, Alkaid flipped to the page for the spell she wanted. Smirking as she reached the page, she intoned the spell words. " **επικαλούνται: σκορπιός βέλος** [Invoke: Scorpion Arrow]!"

As the words were invoked, Alkaid snapped her book shut and a silvery star-like arrow descended from the sky and crashed into the dragon's side.

The force of the impact along with its current position, caused Zairita to flip over and land on its back. Its immense weight causing the earth to quiver from the impact even as its stubby legs flailed in the air helplessly.

" **RRGH!** " It bellowed in outrage as it rolled back and forth on its spiky shell. The minor god seemed familiar with this predicament though and quickly began lashing out with its long tail in a bid to flip itself back upright.

"None of that, you overgrown tortoise." Alkaid chided unpleasantly as she used her Grimoire to search for another spell even as she summoned one of her cards. Snapping her focus closed around the card, the sorceress began chanting the aria for her spell. "Come forth, the wind of snow, and become the fletching which falls from the heavens. **Hræsvelgr!** "

As she'd spoken a half dozen magic circles appeared in the air above her in a halo. When she finally finished her chant, they spat out chaotic green beams of raw power at Zairita. The magic unleashed washed over the whole area as the circles struggled and barely succeeded to direct the firepower at its target.

 _This spell is difficult to contain and aim but it's one of the most powerful I have at my disposal._ Alkaid thought to herself even as she gritted her teeth and focused her will to maintain control over the forces she'd unleashed. _I really hope this does the trick._

She'd normally not even consider using something so imprecise or volatile with so many innocents around, but Pyrrha was doing a wonderful job chasing the mortals away so she'd taken a gamble and whipped out the big gun.

The power of the bombardment engulfed everything in the area and reduced much of it to dust and slag but most of its power was channeled at the point where Zairita's tail met its shell in an attempt sever it

Or at least that's what Alkaid hoped.

When the light finally died down though, her hopes were dashed. The dragon's scaly hide was scorched and a good chunk of the flesh underneath had been gouged away leaving a gaping hole full of cooked meat at the base of its tail, but it remained firmly attached to the monster and by the way it swung wildly in agitation was still fully functional.

Cursing, Alkaid quickly began to flip through her Grimoire for another spell to follow up.

"Come on! Maybe petrification? No, that won't work on a go-" Alkaid's frantic search for a new bombardment spell was interrupted when her opponent turned its head to face her and breathed a flaming boulder in her direction at incredible speeds.

" **Incantare: Rubicon Terminus!"** Alkaid desperately cried out a second before the projectile would have killed her. It conjured a single vertical defensive wall of what looked like a fast flowing river and invoked the power of the Roman god, Terminus. Despite the divine power behind the spell, it barely held back Zairita's furious counterattack for more than a moment before it collapsed.

That was more than enough time however for Alkaid to Shadow Travel to safety on the other side of the street.

 _I guess Lord Terminus doesn't like me much._ The daughter of Hades mused as she caught her breath.

" **That hurt, you filthy ape!"** The infuriated Persian minor dragon god roared as the wild swings of its injured tail finally delivered results and it righted itself. **"I'll have your hide for that."**

Pyrrha, clearly worried about her lover, apparated over to Alkaid's side. She was just in time to join the sorceress as they both stared in trepidation as Zairita reared its head back and opened its jaws, revealing the glow of the molten rock it had collected in its throat. With a cruel gleam in its eyes, the dragon spat the lava out in a tight and fast moving stream of burning death directly at the two demigoddesses.

The girls acted fast.

Pyrrha grabbed Alkaid's wrist and pulled her towards a nearby shadow cast by a casino that loomed over the Las Vegas Strip. Catching on, the child of Hades held tight to her girlfriend and used it to Shadow Travel out of there, barely letting them avoid certain death by mere milliseconds.

Unfortunately their desperate evasion meant Alkaid didn't exactly pay much attention to where they emerged back into the mortal plane. As a result, they reappeared feet away from Zairita's brutalized tail as it swung through the air in violent arcs.

"Hold tight!" The daughter of Hades shouted and raised her hands in the air. In response, a bubble-like barrier wrapped around the couple. Pyrrha grabbed onto her for safety just as the tail hit their impromptu defense and sent the two bouncing away down the Strip like a recklessly thrown beach ball.

As the barrier bubble bounced along, the two girls struggled to keep their lunches down as the random movement destroyed any sense of equilibrium that they might have possessed. Their surroundings blurred around them until they crashed into the side of the famous Bellagio.

"Oh gods." Alkaid held her stomach as he she fell to her knees.

"Holy shit that was a rush!" Pyrrha said as she stood up and looked at her. "Kaidy? Damn it, hold on! I'll grab a potion."

As they began to regain their bearings from their impromptu experiment with zorbing, a thoughtful sounding rumble had them both looking up to see the dragon striding through the artificial lake in front of the famous casino while looking at them with curious malevolence almost as if it was thinking how best to eat them.

The redhead pulled out a potion from her storage bracer. Taking the offered potion, Alkaid quickly drank it and tried to keep it down. Thankfully, the potion's magic quickly set in and the queasiness went away moments later.

"Thank you." The sorceress told her lover as she cleared her mind with a shake of her head and got to her feet. "Now, any new ideas? Because everything we've done so far have been useless."

"Yeah, I get ya, but what can we do exactly? I mean he's tanking _your_ magic. And you do some scary stuff."

" **Enough talking! Time to be eaten!"** Zairita gloated as his neck stretched out impossibly long to allow his jaws to bite down on the still, if barely, intact bubble shield.

It strained under the pressure exerted by the jaw full of razor sharp teeth, its elastic shell looking about ready to pop.

Grabbing Pyrrha's shoulder, Alkaid apparited them to safety once more. Just before disappearing, Alkaid snapped her fingers. In response, the bubble shield exploded right in the dragon's maw and it hissed and reared back in pain.

Rematerializing on the far side of the Bellagio's lake, the couple gathered their wits as the dragon dunked its smoking mouth into the water to cool it off.

"Alright, overwhelming force is not working. Which is most frustrating and makes me oddly understand my Lord Uncle. So we need to change it up." Alkaid stated as she flipped through her Grimoire quickly.

"And with what exactly?"

"Surgical precision."

Pyrrha nodded in understanding, "Like a focus blast?"

The brunette held up a card, "More like a literal scalpel."

Placing it back into her weapon's pages, Alkaid snapped the Grimoire shut.

" **Strike Flame**!"

The spell conjured a lance of energy shrouded in a flaming aura that shot at the dragon like a bullet and lodged itself into Zairita's neck. The blow opened a small wound that wept a trickle of lava onto the pavement.

Lifting its head out of the lake, the dragon raised its brow incredulously. **"Was that supposed to help you?"**

Pyrrha held out her lybras. "Kaidy, power me up."

The sorceress frowned, she really didn't want to put her girlfriend in danger but nonetheless cast her **Hesken** spell on the weapon and enshrouded it in a red chainsaw-like aura that whirled around the blades.

Her fears were proved correct when almost immediately the daughter of Ares recklessly charged at the now wounded tortoise dragon.

"Py, what are you doing!? Don't be stupid!" Alkaid shouted aghast at her lover's recklessness.

As if the dragon agreed, he turned to breathe a stream of lava directly at Pyrrha as she rushed directly at him.

Swiftly, Alkaid threw one of her cards at Pyrrha and it travelled forward at blazing speeds. It exploded in a burst of light in front of the redhead and turned into a magic circle with a four pointed star emblazoned over the defensive barrier. The barrier held off the lava stream, causing the molten rock to splash all around the protective bubble it offered.

"Freaking Tartarus, Pyrrha! Move!" Alkaid shouted as she wove a series of magical platforms for the redhead to use.

Pyrrha took the hint and leapt onto them, running across the steaming lake as she continued the charge towards the monster. All the while, Zairita continued to focus the full fury of its lava breath on her. Using Alkaid's magical platforms as a jump point, the war child leaped into the air and swung her powered up Lybras right into the dragon's wounded neck.

"Thanks Kaidy!" The redhead shouted as her weapon ripped into the opening and widened it.

Zairita roared in pain and began to flail about.

Pyrrha dug her feet into the wound and kept swinging with her weapon, digging into and opening the wound even more. It bled lava all over her and Alkaid prayed that her defenses held.

 _Pyrrha, we are going to have a long talk after this!_ The brunette thought briefly, _She is too damn reckless._

Ruthlessly, the daughter of Ares continued to rip and tear at the wound as the behemoth of a dragon continued to thrash about as it began to bleed out. With a powerful swing of its head, Zairita managed to dislodge Pyrrha off him.

The redhead fell on her rump on a hastily conjured magical platform and scrambled to get back on her feet. The platform flew off a good distance away from the death throes of the bleeding dragon.

" **Foolish apes, as if this would end me!"** It roared with a wheeze in its voice. Its life fluids flowing out of its body like a waterfall. **"You may destroy my current form, but I'll be back. Remember this well, worms! You've made an enemy this day."**

Zairita lumbered forward once more before falling into the Bellagio's lake. Steam erupted from the area like a thick fog. Even through this cloud of heat, the demigods could clearly see as the dragon's immense bulk collapsed into a mass of shadows that faded into nothingness.

Pyrrha arrived next to Alkaid moments later and let out a sigh of relief. Collapsing to the ground, she looked up at Alkaid and said, "Man, that was a hell of a fight Kaidy. Do you think that's going to be an average for us?"

The daughter of Hades on the other hand frowned at her lover, hands on her hips. "What were you thinking? You can be so reckless! Do you know how close to dying you were? I could _feel_ it Pyrrha!"

The braided redhead winced at that, "I'm sorry. I just saw an opening."

Alkaid simply huffed at her and Shadow Traveled the two back to the Underworld.

Her mood would not improve that was for sure!

"Yo Kaidy and Piggy, you're back. How was the fight with Mister Yellow Wyrm?" Melinoe asked with a teasing smirk.

"Ridiculously annoying." Alkaid said as she headed towards her room.

"Oh, that's her diva walk. What you do this time, Piggy?" Melinoe jeered ruthlessly.

"Scared her by being reckless?" Pyrrha offered with a shrug. "At least I think so."

Melinoe's golden eyes narrowed, "Well stop doing that. Despite my misgivings, my baby sister _somehow_ cares about you. Why? I couldn't even imagine. So try not to be stupid. Got it?"

"Uh, right, yeah. Got it." Pyrrha nodded nervously.

"Good. Now go tell her that water boy is still in the Lotus like a dumbass. Hopefully she'll be distracted by that and forgive you."

Alkaid who was still listening in, turned to face her lover and sister. "He's _still_ there?"

"Oops. Chance lost." Melinoe shrugged while she shot a cheeky grin at Pyrrha. "And yeah, he is. I thought you said he was useful, not useless."

Not responding, Alkaid headed towards her room. She pinched the bridge of her nose and thought with frustration. _I hope he gets out of there soon. If not, he's not going to be able to clear his name. And then we have to deal with World War Three._

She prayed Percy could rise to the occasion.

* * *

 **Omake: A Hades Dinner**

It was the first day after Alkaid and Pyrrha's fight with Zahhāk and they'd taken to staying in the Underworld to recover. It was safe from any retaliation from the Persians and was the perfect place for their base of operation for the moment.

And as usual whenever his children was home since he'd taken Alkaid in, Hades insisted that his daughters joined him for evening meals. Naturally, Melinoe and Makaria were also present. It seemed to cheer their Father up when all his daughters were around him, it almost seemed to make up for the lack of Persephone's presence.

Pyrrha had been concerned at having to attend a _casual_ evening with Alkaid's divine family, but Hades would have nothing else, despite the daughter of Ares'... fears about such a thing.

As if being surrounded by a whole bunch of gods wasn't enough, the supposedly casual dinner consisted of a Caribbean dinner served on _golden gem encrusted_ tableware. Yeah, that was apparently casual for the House of Hades.

Despite Alkaid's assurance that this was perfectly normal, Pyrrha looked about as stiff as plywood. As she looked at the grand spread, her reddish-brown eyes looked to her lover with worry. The brunette sorceress did her best to look reassuring, but Pyrrha was only slightly comforted. Alkaid looked almost as worried as she was.

As if feeling entirely out of place wasn't enough, it seemed that the dinner was yet another opportunity for Alkaid's family to play their new favorite game namely making Pyrrha as uncomfortable as possible.

Something that they did by nitpicking every little thing they could think of.

Pyrrha did her best to maintain her cool, knowing that if she lost it she'd just be giving them what they wanted. Despite that by the second course, the demigod was ready to strangle Melinoe and glare at Hades. Makaira was somewhat more tame but her passive aggressive comments were still sting worthy. Even Alkaid was getting annoyed, shooting her family looks to try to rein them in but to no avail.

"So, Branwen, what are you doing now that you've graduated Hogwarts?" Hades' silken voice sailed across the long dinner table that was roughly thirty feet in length.

"I'm uh, just trying to figure things out Lord Hades. You know the life expectancy of half-bloods. So just trying to take it one day at a time. Maybe be a pro hero. Help around at Camp." Pyrrha said calmly as she gingerly ate some lobster.

"No plan? Seriously?" Melinoe scoffed. "How much of a blockhead are you?"

"It does seem a little reckless." Makaria agreed and looked at the redhead with pity.

Alkaid's hands tightened around her tableware as she calmly ate her salad.

"Um, yeah. I know." Pyrrha admitted easily, reaching over to squeeze Alkaid's hand to restrain her from lashing out. This wasn't her first rodeo when it came to dealing with the House of Hades' passive aggressive disdain of her. "But I've been discussing it with Kaidy. Still going through the options at the moment."

Despite her parentage, Pyrrha was actually doing her best to not be rattled by the comments. With how many were tossed her way, the redhead had grown some pretty thick skin.

She just had to endure it a little longer.

Oh, dessert!

* * *

As they left the dining room, Pyrrha couldn't help but be bummed about what had happened over dinner. It had been so damn stressful. Needing to take a break, she collapsed onto Alkaid's couch.

"You know, Kaidy, I'm starting to think that your family will never like me."

Alkaid angrily stomped into her bathroom to change into her nightgown as she replied, "Don't be silly, Py. They just have to learn to get used to you. I love you, so if they can't accept that I'll be very angry with them."

"Yeah, then when will that be? Tonight was exhausting! I don't know how long I can keep this up."

"I can't say when, but they will." Alkaid reassured her as she walked over and gently took hold of Pyrrha's hands and gave them a squeeze.

Returning the beautiful smile flashed her way, Pyrrha's cheeks flushed, "Geez, you sure know how to make a girl feel special."

Alkaid's soft lips pecked her cheek and the brunette gave her a stern look, "You are special to me."

"For a girl like you? I think I'll take any insults thrown my way."

Pulling her closer, Pyrrha wrapped her arm around the curvy woman. Alkaid eagerly snuggled deeper and the two were content to just sit there.

Forgetting, for the moment, all their problems and luxuriating in each other's presence.

* * *

 **Done and done! Thanks to the team of Nameless and Axios as always.**

 **Man, those two lovebirds have had a tough week. All the monsters and stuff just keeps coming their way. I do hope you enjoyed the dragon battle. We worked hard on it to make it a bit more unique then some regular dragon.**

 **Nameless: Well, we hoped you guys like our hopefully somewhat original take on** _ **The Lightning Thief**_ **. We quite liked having fun with the Zoroastrian mythology and having Alkaid face off against them. Hope you guys enjoyed reading it too. Oh, and for those of you who would like to know our inspiration for the dragon, it's Adamantoise from the Final Fantasy franchise.**

 **Now Alkaid and Pyrrha have been officially confirmed in their new job position. I don't remember many** _ **ambassador**_ **position fics in like, ever. Seriously. So with having to deal with this, I hope we can branch out to include a whole bunch of new and exciting topics and characters in this story. Like Odin, everyone likes Odin. Just look at half the spells Alkaid used in this battle. She clearly likes him.**

 **Nameless: And Odin is only the tip of the iceberg. We look forward to seeing what exactly you guys have to say about the other mythologies we're bringing in. Hopefully it'll be positive.**

 **Now you know what to do! Smash that review button and tell us what you love! No flames and peace off my peeps!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson or Harry Potter.**

 **Consul of the Underworld: Grinding Phase**

 **Chapter Four: The Great Los Angeles Quake**

 **Beta: ShadowofAxios**

* * *

A few days after their eventful visit to Las Vegas, Alkaid and Pyrrha were both carefully examining the intelligence they had on the various Persian attacks throughout the country with the help of a map of the continental United States laid out on a table in the daughter of Hades' room. The two had put markers onto the site of every encounter they and other Olympian forces had with the encroaching Zoroastrians.

"They aren't just attacking Percy and gang, huh?" Pyrrha mused as she put down a marker to symbolize the attack by the horned dragon Aži Sruvara on a herd of centaurs that happened about the same time the couple had been dealing with his yellow counterpart. News of which they'd only heard a few hours ago from Lord Hermes.

"No," Alkaid bit her thumb nail as she thought deeply over the map. "So they probably aren't sure the exact path that their relic is taking, but…"

"They seem to be reserving the big guns for waterboy."

Alkaid nodded in resignation. "Which means that while they aren't sure, they most definitely strongly think he either has their relic or will lead them to it."

"Man that kid's got shitty luck." Pyrrha noted.

"It comes with being a child of the Big Three." The brunette shrugged. "Though he does seem to have gotten himself an extra serving of bad luck for some reason."

"Yeah. You were never really lucky either but still loads better than he has it."

Any further conversation was interrupted by a knock on Alkaid's door and a voice of a ghoul servant calling for their attention.

"Lady Alkaid. Lord Hades commands your presence in the Throne Room."

Both demigoddesses exchanged confused looks. That was quite unexpected. Outside of insisting on daily family dinners, the Lord of the Underworld had kept out of his daughter's way since the crisis with the Persians had blown up. He both did not want to distract her from her mission and was too distracted himself by his missing Helm, and had thus decided to keep his distance.

"Let's go. Hopefully something good has happened."

"If not?"

"Well, I'm sure it won't be too bad for us. Maybe."

Pyrrha just gave her a dry look as they set off for the throne room together.

The walk down the palace's corridors weren't long but both young women could feel a palpable tension in the air that unnerved them both. The ghouls were acting skittish and the skeletal guards seemed to have doubled in number while looking twice as intimidating as usual at the same time.

"Looks like your dad is pissed."

"He's been like that since the Solstice, what's changed?" Alkaid hedged even as she knew what her lover was trying to say.

Her fingers twitched nervously. Her mind running through what could have possibly soured her Father's already declining mood.

The answer presented itself as they walked into the familiar grandiose throne room to spot Percy and his questmates standing nervously before the Lord of the Dead.

 _Bloody hell._ Alkaid's emerald green eyes widened a fraction. She kept to the shadows, observing the situation and waiting for her chance to intervene. It was volatile enough as is, she couldn't risk setting it off. Especially when she took into account the thick aura of raw power that emanated from the backpack Percy was sporting.

"You are brave to come here, Son of Poseidon," Hades said in an oily voice. "After what you have done to me, very brave indeed. Or perhaps you are simply very foolish."

The son of Poseidon seemed confused by that for a moment, but shook it off and hesitantly began speaking. "Lord and Uncle, I apologize for barging into your realm like this. But with Alkaid missing and our I.M.s not getting through, we didn't really have any other way to contact you."

Hades raised an eyebrow and sat forward in his throne, causing shadowy faces to appear in the folds of his black robes, faces of torment of souls from the Fields of Punishment that were stitched into the fabric, trying to get out.

"I come with two requests." The boy finished, recklessly confident.

 _Oh gods. He did not just do that!?_ Alkaid mentally slapped her face.

"Only two requests?" Hades said. "Arrogant child. As if you have not already taken enough. Speak, then. It amuses me not to strike you dead yet."

Perhaps it was her Father's icy tone or maybe the way the shadows lengthened at his obvious anger, but Percy seemed to get a clue and shot a look at Persephone's throne only to gulp nervously as he finally noticed it was empty.

 _Percy, it's summer. Of course it's empty._ Alkaid scolded him in her mind.

Annabeth cleared her throat and she prodded Percy in the back.

"Lord Hades," Percy said. "Look, sir, there can't be a war among the gods. It would be ... bad."

"Really bad," The satyr, Grover Underwood, added lamely.

"Return Zeus's master bolt to me," The waterlogged idiot said. "Please, sir. Let me carry it to Olympus."

Hades's eyes grew dangerously bright. "You dare keep up this pretense, after what you have done?"

Percy glanced back at his friends. They looked as confused as he was.

It was actually amusing to see the look on the daughter of Athena.

 _Do they really not know?_ Alkaid's brow furrowed in confusion. Surely they knew what they'd brought into Father's domain?

"Kaidy, is that what I think it is?" Pyrrha whispered in shock from beside her.

The daughter of Hades just shrugged, she couldn't be certain. And with something as important as the Master Bolt she couldn't afford to be anything but. That said, she was pretty close to that point. Few things in creation radiated that kind of raw destructive potential.

"Um ... Uncle," Percy nervously said, pulling Alkaid's attention back to his confrontation with her Father. "You keep saying 'after what you've done.' What exactly have I done?"

The throne room shook with a tremor so strong, they probably felt it upstairs in Los Angeles. Debris fell from the cavern ceiling. Doors burst open all along the walls, and skeletal warriors marched in, hundreds of them, from every time period and nation in Western civilization. They lined the perimeter of the room, blocking the exits.

Hades bellowed, "Do you think I want war, godling?"

"You are the Lord of the Dead," Percy said carefully. "A war would expand your kingdom, right?"

 _Oh no, he hit the_ wrong _button._ Alkaid physically palmed her face at this. It triggered her Father so badly when the bloat of his realm came up.

"A typical thing for my brothers to say! Do you think I need more subjects? Did you not see the sprawl of the Asphodel Fields?"

"Well..."

"Father!" Alkaid called out before the god could start getting into the groove of his rant and anger himself even further in the process. "I have come as you requested."

Hades frowned at her for a moment, seeing through her trick but nevertheless nodded in acknowledgement of her presence.

"Alkaid, thank goodness." Percy all but begged. "You've got to convince your dad to help us."

The aforementioned demigoddess just arched an eyebrow in annoyance. "And why, pray tell, Percy should I do that? It's not like you've presented anything to prove you're innocent."

Percy looked shocked at that and he shot Alkaid a thoroughly betrayed look which upset the demigoddess just a tad. She liked the boy, and she didn't want to be his enemy. At the same time however she couldn't help but be annoyed with him for drawing conclusions before she even finished speaking.

"But," the sorceress continued. "I am willing to listen to what you have to say and convince my Father to do the same."

Father raised an eyebrow at her now.

She returned the look with one of her own, making the guests look between the two in bewilderment.

"He's an idiot." Alkaid said finally.

"Hey!" Percy shouted in indignation, causing Pyrrha to hiss under her breath at how much of an ungrateful brat he was. At least someone was smart enough to see what she was doing.

"That is true." Hades agreed, ignoring the boy. "He might actually be stupid enough to be ignorant."

"Exactly. From my observations of him, Percy Jackson is not the Lightning Thief. He is simply not competent enough."

"The daughter of Athena then?"

"Plausible, but unlikely. She has the skill set but not the nerve or creativity."

Annabeth was better composed than the son of Poseidon, but she nevertheless was still offended and shot Alkaid a glare.

"The satyr?" Her Father was grasping at straws now.

"...Father, seriously?"

"Fine! Fine!" Hades tossed a hand in the air, nearly looking petulant at not being able to torture one of the 'guests'. "But then why have they brought the Master Bolt here to threaten me?"

The questers gasped at this but again Hades and his daughter ignored them, Alkaid just gesturing to their reaction.

"Once more, ignorance no doubt."

"Even from the daughter of Athena?"

"Especially. If she had any idea they had the Bolt, why would they even be in the Underworld?"

Hades rubbed his chin in thought. "It does seem unlikely her mother would stoop to something as underhanded as using it to force my compliance."

"Exactly. Perhaps we can all calm down and discuss this more-" Alkaid said, but was cut off.

"Wait! Wait just a minute!" Percy shouted, shattering the calm that the daughter of Hades had just managed to create. "We have the Master Bolt!?"

 _I'm going to torture him myself at this rate._ Alkaid pinched the bridge of her nose, "Yes Percy. You do. In your backpack. Now shush. I'm trying to save you."

"That's impossible! I would have noticed." Annabeth cut in, her pride getting the better of her and making her speak even when she _must_ have known how stupid it was to do so.

"Clearly you didn't, Princess." Pyrrha snorted at her. Though there some glee in her eyes as she lorded it over Annabeth.

"Open your pack, _boy._ " Hades sneered at the still disbelieving Percy.

He slung it off his shoulder and unzipped it. Inside was a two-foot-long metal cylinder, spiked on both ends, humming with energy.

"And that is the Master Bolt. Are we all in agreement on that? Yes? Good."

Percy nodded as his brows furrowed in furious thought. "The backpack, I got it from-"

"The Lightning Thief, who aimed to frame you." Hades mused. "Quite a smart move I might add. Your walking into my domain immediately had me thinking this was a ploy by your father to force me to side with him in the war this theft was undoubtedly designed to spark. Doubly so when it was timed when I too am missing my symbol of power."

Alkaid let out a breath she didn't know she was holding as her Father's logic seemed to calm him.

"Lord Hades, your Helm of Darkness is missing too?" Annabeth asked, her surprise clear.

"Yes, my daughters have been looking for it. The Furies as well, it was why Alecto was at Yancy and discovered this fool." Hades said with a dismissive gesture at Percy.

"She jumped the gun in attacking you, Percy. Apologies." Alkaid added quickly.

"Jumped the gun!? She almost killed me!"

"And you could have been the thief. Besides, you lived. Be thankful she went easy on you."

"I can vouch for that." Pyrrha agreed. "If they were serious either time you fought them, waterboy, you'd be enjoying some time in Asphodel by now."

"Back up," Annabeth cut in. "My lord, when was the Helm stolen?"

"At the Winter Solstice, same as the Bolt." The god of the dead said gesturing at his brother's symbol.

"Why didn't anyone know!?" The daughter of wisdom all but shouted. "That's _two_ symbols of the Big Three missing at the same time. That's a very, very big deal!"

The satyr just nodded along, too unnerved by the proceedings so far to do anything else.

"Unlike my brother, I am not a fool to boast I lost _my_ Symbol of Power, daughter of Athena." Father sneered at her as his bony fingers tightened against the armrests of his throne. "I had no illusions that anyone on Olympus would offer me the slightest justice, the slightest help. I can ill afford for word to get out that my most powerful weapon of fear is missing. So I searched for it myself with my best agents. And now I might have just found the most useful agents of all."

"Father!" Alkaid protested. "You cannot be seriously considering using them as bait!"

"Why not?" Hades countered nonchalantly. "The thief will obviously confront them now that their plan has so obviously fallen apart. It would be the perfect time to recover the Helm."

"That is-" Alkaid began, intending to compliment her Father on his devious little scheme.

"So, uh, you're going to send backup once the thief shows himself?" Percy asked hopefully.

Alkaid was nearing the point of strangling Percy.

The god shrugged. "Perhaps. Loathe as I am to admit it, my Helm is an object of your quest. My hands are tied on how much involvement I can get away with before I break the Ancient Laws."

"Then what? We have to get the Helm on our own?"

"Yes." Hades said with a nod. "I expect it no later then when you deliver the Bolt to my brother."

"But that's impossible!" The boy whined.

"Percy, shut up! Now!" Alkaid told the boy sternly, even as the Pyrrha and his friends all shot him glares to the same effect.

It was too late however and her Father's anger spiked at the boy's disrespect. The shadows twisted into monstrous shapes, the skeletons aimed their weapons. From high above, there was a fluttering of leathery wings, and the three Furies swooped down to perch on the back of their master's throne. Alecto looked very eager for blood as she flicked her whip.

"Is that so, Percy Jackson?" Hades said, his voice dripping with malicious honey. "Then perhaps I can provide you with some motivation to attempt the 'impossible'. I know the _real reason_ why you have come. You came to bargain for her."

Hades loosed a ball of gold fire from his palm. It exploded on the steps in front of Percy, and there was Jackson's mother, frozen in a shower of gold, just as she was at the moment when the Minotaur began to squeeze her to death.

He couldn't speak. He reached out to touch her, but was forced to jerk his hand back when he realized that the light was as hot as a bonfire.

"Yes," Hades said with satisfaction. "I saved her when my brother wanted you dead, Percy Jackson. I believe you owe me a great debt for that. Return my helm, and perhaps in exchange I will let her go. She is not dead, you know. Not yet. But if you displease me, that will change."

Percy began fingering something in his pockets. Alkaid wondered what it was, but before she could even begin to formulate a halfway decent hypothesis, her Father provided the answer.

"Ah, the pearls," Hades said, causing Percy to pale. "Yes, my brother and his little tricks. Bring them forth, Percy Jackson."

The son of Poseidon's hand moved against his will and brought out the pearls.

"Only three," Hades said. "What a shame. You do realize each only protects a single person. Try to take your mother, then, little godling. And which of your friends will you leave behind to spend eternity with me? Go on. Choose. Or accept my terms."

He looked at Annabeth and Grover. Their faces were grim.

"We were tricked," He told them. "Set up."

"Yes, but why?" Annabeth asked. "And the voice in the pit-"

That set alarm bells in Alkaid's mind ringing. _Pit? Don't tell me they were at the maw of Tartarus?_

Her thoughts were echoed it seemed by her Father if the brief widening of his eyes was anything to go by, but he quashed whatever emotion he felt as soon as it surfaced and refocused on the matter at hand.

"I don't know yet," The boy said. "But I intend to ask."

"Decide, boy!" Hades yelled.

"Percy." Grover said having finally found his courage again and putting his hand on Percy's shoulder. "Leave me here. Use the third pearl on your mom."

"No!"

"I'm a satyr," Grover said. "We don't have souls like humans do. He can torture me until I die, but he won't get me forever. I'll just be reincarnated as a flower or something. It's the best way."

"No." Annabeth drew her bronze knife. "You two go on. Grover, you have to protect Percy. You have to get your searcher's license and start your quest for Pan. Get his mom out of here. I'll cover you. I plan to go down fighting."

"No way," Grover said. "I'm staying behind."

"Think again, goat boy," Annabeth said.

Alkaid just rolled her eyes. They made it sound like they didn't have a good deal. _Seriously, what is with half-bloods these days? So overdramatic._

"Stop it, both of you! I know what to do. Take these." The son of the oceans said as he handed them each a pearl.

Annabeth said, "But, Percy ..."

"I'm sorry," Percy told his mother as he turned to face her. "I'll be back. I'll find a way."

"I'll find your helm, Uncle," The boy said with confidence. It actually annoyed Alkaid a bit since she had been searching for a while now and here came this cocky fool of a boy claiming he would do what she'd failed to accomplish even after so much effort. "I'll return it. Also Charon wants a pay raise."

A vein on Hades' brow ticked in irritation as it always did when the subordinate god's seemingly unending pay raises came up. Alkaid could commiserate. The ferryman was already one of the best paid minor gods in the Underworld and he was _never_ satisfied!

"Wait, again?" Alkaid groaned as she shared in her Father's annoyance. "He just had one a few years ago."

"And it wouldn't hurt to play with Cerberus once in a while. He likes red rubber balls."

Okay now that was just insulting! She played with Cerby every other day!

"Shut up, Jackson!" Pyrrha shouted hotly, drawing her labrys on the fool. "Don't you dare accuse us of neglecting our dog!"

The boy flinched at that but recovered his composure in a blink of an eye.

"Now, guys!"

The questers smashed the pearls at their feet. For a moment, nothing happened and Alkaid was starting to think that her Uncle had made a mistake and given his son defective products.

"Don't forget my Helm!" Hades shouted warningly just as a burst of green light and a gust of fresh sea wind exploded below the questers' feet. They were encased in a milky white sphere, which started to float off the ground.

"Look up.'" Grover yelled. "We're going to crash!"

Alkaid just rolled her eyes. _Idiots! The lot of them are a bunch of imbeciles._

"That was a chore."

"It's not over." Hades informed her, sounding pained. "Alkaid, I need you to follow them. Make sure the Helm and whatever Persian relic has been stolen is recovered. Finish the job for the fool if he fails."

"Yes, Father." Alkaid said tersely, still somewhat annoyed that she was accused of neglecting Cerby.

Turning to Pyrrha, she received a ready nod. Returning one of her own, she summoned a shadow portal and stepped through with her lover on her heels.

* * *

As they exited the shadow tunnel, the couple didn't appear on the beach where Percy would likely head towards -the pearls would after all be drawn inevitably to the ocean- like they intended. Instead, they appeared in an L.A. suburb where they were immediately met by the massive form of Zahhāk towering over them.

"Oh shi-" Pyrrha shouted in shock, just as their world was consumed by black and white fire.

" **Oval Protection!"** Alkaid shouted, summoning a spherical barrier that barely saved them from the deadly flames. Almost as soon as the barrier materialized however, it began cracking under the strain of holding off the power unleashed against it by the dragon god.

Summoning her grimoire and one of her cards, Alkaid began to chant. "Power of the starlight forge walls of unyielding might to shield against the fury of my enemies, **Multi-Defenser!** "

Her invocation complete, she slammed her grimoire closed around her card to complete the casting of her spell. In response, a series of new barriers formed within the badly strained original just as it shattered at last.

The multi-layer shields took up the slack though even as the outer layer began to crack under the strain.

As they cracked one by one, Alkaid swiftly began chanting a new spell.

"Rainbow light from the stars, heed my call! Descend from the heavens and cleanse the world of my accursed foe, **Sacred Blazer!** " With the spell words spoken, the daughter of Hades slammed a newly drawn card closed within the pages of her grimoire.

At once, a colossal rainbow colored beam of energy shot down from the sky like an orbital bombardment straight out of a scifi movie and incinerated the area around the dragon god.

The use of a powerful bombardment spell just after throwing up an equally draining defensive one was really taking a large bite out of Alkaid's reserves and she collapsed to her knees even as she and Pyrrha were given a breather as Zahhāk stumbled back from the blow.

With the sorceress out of commission for the moment, Pyrrha took the the initiative and Apparited both of them a distance away.

Looking back towards Zahhāk, the daughter of war winced at the scene of devastation before her. The area was practically glassed around the god, but that wasn't what had garnered her reaction. No, that honor went to the fact that the dragon looked barely scuffed up by Alkaid's desperate spell. One which even at a glance, Pyrrha knew had cost hundreds of innocent lives as collateral damage.

Swaying to her feet, Alkaid attempted to collect herself.

"Father will hate the overtime for this." The daughter of Hades mused with some dispassion even as she winced at sensing so many die at a time.

Pyrrha didn't flinch at the callousness, but her eyes did widen at how casual Alkaid was about the loss of life. A fact that the daughter of Hades filed away for discussion later. She knew her lover, as a daughter of Ares, understood better than most the concept of collateral damage and how that sometimes regrettably included innocent lives. However, it seemed she didn't yet understand how to Alkaid, having been raised in the Underworld, the dead were pretty much the same as the living and as such death was something she did not find to be particularly noteworthy.

The right head of Zahhāk turned towards the couple and a chuckle echoed through the air.

"I did promise that I would get you next time." The dragon stated with a grizzled smile along those scaly lips. "And I intend to keep it, little godlings."

All three heads reared back and unleashed a firestorm from their triple maws. The flames scorched the rest of the neighborhood as it spread out like an unending tsunami of black and white death.

Once more Pyrrha Apparated them, and they popped back into the mortal plane two blocks ahead of the wall of the fire.

"Kaidy, all we seem to be doing is running from this guy. We've gotta have something on hand to deal with him."

"We have no choice." Alkaid replied as she finally managed to get her breathing under control and conjured one of her magical platforms under them which she commanded to carry them away from Zahhāk.

"This is your home turf, right? There's gotta be something to at least hurt him."

"Maybe." Alkaid mused even as she swerved her platform to the side to avoid a barrage of fireballs that the dragon god was spitting out like a machine gun. "But we'll need to lead him closer to the Underworld. If we get him to trigger its defenses then we _might_ stand a chance."

"Nice. Now that's the home field advantage." Pyrrha grinned as she held onto the platform tighter as they hurried through the city.

"You godlings do realize I can hear you, correct?" Zahhāk asked with a snide little sneer. "Do you think I'd fall for something like that?"

 _Alone? No, but that just means we need to use a little incentive._ Alkaid thought even as she mentally chanted the invocation for the spell she needed to carry out her plan.

Beside her and Pyrrha on the platform, her magic crafted the image of a noble looking Middle Eastern man dressed in the armor of a great warrior king.

At the sight of him, Zahhāk's left and right heads recoiled in shock while the center head growled in anger.

"Greetings, Zahhāk." The illusion said with a mocking bow. "It seems I have been summoned to once more defeat you."

The dragon god's only response was to breathe a trio of beams of raw destruction at the girls which they had to resort to desperate evasive maneuvers to evade.

"Fereydun!" The dragon's middle head roared, even as its counterparts continued to carve trails of burning ruins out of the L.A. cityscape with their beams.

Alkaid winced as her death perception forced her to feel hundreds of innocent mortals die from the god's attack. She'd never been exposed to death on this scale before, and she was finding it a lot harder to brush off like she usually did.

Oblivious to her distress, Pyrrha just gave her a look asking: What the hell did you do?!

Alkaid just shrugged and hid her discomfort.

"I will enjoy sending you back to the grave, along with the foul godlings who dare summon you to battle me." The middle head hissed even as it tilted back and began gathering power between its maw. "Die!"

With that it unleashed the attack it had been building, which screamed across the sky like a meteor before detonating in mid-air like a nova which levelled dozens of city blocks. The girls just managing to escape the same fate as the hapless mortals caught up in the blast by Shadow Traveling to the edge of its blast zone at the very last minute.

"Haha! Zahhāk, as sour as always." The illusionary warrior king mocked further. "Have you gotten slower in this age? Your Father must be ashamed. Though considering how ugly your current form is, I suppose he already has more than enough reason to be such."

" **Shut up!"** Zahhāk's central head bellowed with earth shaking might, while literally foaming at the mouth with anger. While it gave voice to their fury, the left and right heads were manifesting it in action as they began liberally launching more of those new nova blasts of his at them, devastating whole chunks of the city as the dragon continued his destructive pursuit of the girls.

All the while, Alkaid could feel the ever increasing death that was being reaped by the god's rampage. It was getting unbearable. As the death toll skyrocketed, each new death was starting to feel like a stab right through her heart.

Fortunately, an end was in sight as the girls was nearing their destination. Catching a glimpse of the Underworld's entrance in the mortal world -D.O.A. Recording Studios- in the distance, Alkaid managed a relieved smile as she flew straight for it.

"Almost there!" Alkaid said, her voice full of desperate hope. "Just a little further and he'll trigger the defenses."

"The I suggest you move faster, Young Lady." The supposedly illusionary spirit of Fereydun said as he turned to taunt Zahhāk once more.

"What!?" Alkaid jerked back in shock, as she realized that somewhere along the line her illusionary dummy had been replaced by the actual spirit of the mythic king. Entirely without her noticing.

Pyrrha kept her facing forward, "Eyes on the skies please!"

Making a mental note to investigate what had just happened later, Alkaid did just that.

"Zahhāk has your new form made you slow? How is it that such a mighty daeva as yourself is failing to catch a pair of lowly godlings? Did you perhaps put on too much weight?" The deceased king asked mockingly.

"Did you just call me fat!?" All three of the dragon's heads roared, before he started picking up speed. Where he'd been trotting casually towards the trio on the platform before now, the quadridepal dragon now broke out into a canter and was steadily building up towards an all out gallop. Heck, he was even flapping his wings to conjure favorable winds that added to his speed. Of course, this was accompanied by the omnipresent destruction he left in his wake as his winds swept through the already reeling city like a cyclone and he lashed out as he moved with breaths of fire and beams of energy.

"Okay, now you're just pissing him off dude." Pyrrha glowered at the specter.

The ghostly king just smiled at her in amusement. Another building was sent crashing to the ground as the dragon god plowed through it as he continued to chase the odd group of three.

Alkaid's heart bled as she felt the deaths of thousands. The numbers of dead in the D.O.A from the ongoing disaster must have been grower faster than she'd ever seen.

"And we're in!" Alkaid announced as they crossed the Studio's outer defensive line.

"Still too slow, Zahhāk you overgrown lizard!" Fereydun taunted. "Even a snail can move faster than you. Try crawling on your belly!"

The only reply was the dragon god encasing himself in a golden aura and shooting himself forward like a bullet aimed directly at the girls and his nemesis.

Alkaid and Pyrrha's eyes widened in fear as the massive ball of energy was just about to impact them, the sorceress scrambling to call up some defense even as her lover grabbed her ready to use her body to shield her if need be. It proved unnecessary though as Fereydun drew an ox-headed mace and slammed it into the charging dragon. Impossibly, the blow sent the dragon hurtling off course to crash half a block away from the girls but still well within the Underworld's defensive perimeter.

"I leave the rest to you ladies." The legendary king said with a courtly bow to both demigoddesses even as he disappeared. "Please try not to destroy the whole city."

"Not trying." Alkaid wheezed out, exhausted from the chase with its insane speed and all the lifesaving but crazy evasive maneuvers. This was on top of the three powerful spells she'd been forced to use at the very start of the battle.

But all that paled in comparison to the strain of feeling so much death. It was pulling on her psyche. She was used to death, but never on such a scale. Not first hand. Each death was like a pinprick to her senses, but with the sheer volume of death happening around her now it had become akin to someone taking a jackhammer to her brain. For the first time in her life, she honestly wished that she'd never inherited this gift from her Father.

"What Kaidy said," Pyrrha said distractedly as she drew her labrys and eyed Zahhāk as he shakily got to his own feet.

The daughter of Hades grabbed Pyrrha's arm tightly.

"We've got to run, now. The wards will block your apparition and I'm too tired even for that." The sorceress said as she swayed on her feet before pitching forward.

"Why?" Pyrrha asked as she scooped the brunette up into a fireman's carry and started to run.

"So stupid mortals won't decide that they could just pop in and 'rescue' their loved ones from death. That and Father still doesn't trust you enough to add you to the list of exceptions." Alkaid managed in between a series of tired breaths.

Pyrrha grunted at that, but still ran for all her well built body could offer.

The brunette was truly grateful her girlfriend was a daughter of Ares. Truly and wonderfully thankful.

"Where's that coward Fereydun!?" Zahhāk's three heads said with another earthquake inducing bellow as he swept the area and found no trace of his ancient foe.

"Fled like the coward he is, most likely." The middle head concluded after a moment with a sneer even as he zeroed in on the fleeing demigoddesses. "But the godlings are still here."

"Then let's kill them!" The left head suggested.

"Yeah, they deserve it after summoning that jerk!" The right head agreed.

"A fine plan." The middle head said, adding his vote.

With his decision made, the dragon begin walking towards the girls.

"Pyrrha, Pyrrha! He's getting closer." Alkaid said with wide eyes as the hulking god came towards them.

"I'm running, Kaidy!" Her lover breathed out as her speed increased even more.

"You cannot hope to outrun me on foot, mortal." The middle head taunted, even as Zahhāk's other two heads reared back to form a pair of their nova bombs.

Pyrrha was pushing herself as hard as she could, but Alkaid knew they wouldn't make it. Resigning herself to her fate, she gripped the back of her lover's shirt tightly and closed her eyes as she waited to return home the hard way.

The demigoddesses were saved when suddenly a trio of massive black marble statues with shields raised shot out of the ground right behind them just as the dragon unleashed his payload.

When instead of enduring the feeling of being atomized, Alkaid felt nothing more than a intensely hot but still bearable wind, she shot her eyes open in shock to witness the blast vaporize the statues. They however had proved sturdy enough to have absorbed the bulk of the blast.

"Yes! And this is why you get great security." Alkaid cheered.

Zahhāk was not so pleased however.

"What is this? More riffraff to destroy? Where are they all coming from?" The dragon ranted as massive statues, at least fifty feet tall, carved out of black Underworld marble and in the likeness of Ancient Greek warriors crawled out of the ground and attacked him with their massive weapons. He was destroying them easily enough, they could barely take a hit from him before crumbling but they kept appearing like an unending tide and he was slowly being overwhelmed by the weight of numbers.

A fact aided by how he seemed to be visibly weakened by being in Olympian territory uninvited. His powerful aura had began to waver and he seemed to be sickening, with his scales losing their luster. He however stubbornly continued to pursue the couple, shooting at them even as he barreled through the growing crowd of statues that were trying to surround him.

Alkaid looked on with grim satisfaction. Truly, it was all she could do at the moment, but damn if it did not feel good. Especially after he had terrorized them in New Jersey and the indiscriminate death he was sowing in her hometown.

They turned around another building just as a fireball whizzed past them. Obliterating a parking lot.

The redhead panted as she ducked through an alleyway to avoid the pressure wave from the explosion. In the distance, they could see their enemy getting agitated.

"Argh! Dammit, I'm getting nowhere!" Zahhāk complained as he was finally surrounded by phalanxes of the Underworld's guardian colossi on all sides. Their pikes and formations preventing him from escaping his encirclement.

Observing the scene even as Pyrrha swerved to the right to avoid another of the desperate long range shots from one of the dragon's heads, Alkaid couldn't help the smile that stretched across her face in satisfaction. "And now for the coup de grâce."

"What are you even saying?" The daughter of Ares asked in between pants. She looked over her shoulder and Alkaid could see her face covered in sweat.

"I'm out of here." The dragon god said, turning and breathing a concentrated gout of flame that cut a path for him through the phalanx of statues between him and freedom. He strode off, one of his heads constantly locked onto the demigods and still launching attacks at them.

" **Round Shield!"** Alkaid managed despite her exhaustion and barely managing to deflect the beam of death sent their way by the now obviously retreating god.

The statues weren't about to let him go unchallenged though as they moved to box him in once more. Alkaid was on the same page and fumbling with clumsy fingers, she reached into her pocket to pull out a handful of cards. Some slipped from her grasp, but that didn't matter right now.

Weakly flinging a card into the air, the magic sealed within was released and tethering chains leapt from a magical circle conjured under the dragon's feet and latched onto the god's right rear leg. It held firm for all but a moment as Zahhāk snapped them like they were string.

"What was that supposed to do?" Pyrrha asked skeptically as she slowed down to catch her breath now that it seemed their enemy was on the run.

Ignoring her, Alkaid threw another spell card charged with a binding spell.

And just like before, Zahhāk was tethered but easily broke his chains.

This action was repeated again and again and again as the dragon god roared in frustration. Especially as it bought enough time for the statues not only to box him in again, but for a group of them to emerge from the earth to climb up onto his body and use their own bulk to slow him down.

"Get off me, you dolls." The dragon roared as he struggled against the growing number of statues dogpiling him.

"That. That is what it was supposed to do." Alkaid panted as her hair matted her face. Blowing it out of the way, she smiled wickedly.

"...Gods, that's amazing." Pyrrha whispered, looking on in awe. "Never thought I'd ever see a god being dogpiled."

"It's not over yet. _Now_ it's time for the coup de grâce."

Just then, right under the feet of the struggling dragon god and his host of unwanted hanger-ons a massive geyser exploded out of the ground. Its waters were not the beautiful waters of a mineral spring or the raw sewage of a burst pipe. Instead, it was magical water full of things like faded graduation certificates, various trophies and a variety of other junk.

"Is that-"

"It's the Styx, yes." Alkaid agreed.

The dragon god stepped out of the stream of sacred water from the famous Underworld river looking worse for wear. It looked like he'd stepped out of an acid bath. His hide was bubbling with gross pus leaking from a whole host of wounds and he was rumbling in pain as he tried to stagger to safety.

The statues did not let him escape though and begin to drag him back into the geyser.

"If I die here then I'm taking you with me!" Zahhāk roared furiously as his heads whipped about in mindless agony and his body began glowing a brilliantly golden light.

"Shit!" Alkaid cussed, even as she called on the dregs of her stamina and commanded the shadows to consume her and Pyrrha. They reappeared right in front of D.O.A. where she literally threw herself out of her lover's arms to push open the door and dive inside. Sensing her urgency, Pyrrha rushed in after her.

They barely made it before the entire area outside the Studio was engulfed in blinding light, the doors of the Studio automatically snapping closed just before the light could reach its threshold.

The building rumbled as cracks formed along the walls.

"What the bloody Tartarus?!" Charon snapped as he looked up to see the couple. "Little Lady, do you know what you've just done!?"

"I know. I am so grounded." Alkaid joked with a grimace from the floor. She wasn't really in a humorous mood, but she knew it was one of the best ways to deal with the ferryman.

"Grounded? That's the least of your problems." The boundary god demanded, his suit stained and his sunglasses cracked. "Look outside."

Blinking in confusion, the daughter of Hades shakily got to her feet and heeded his advice. Joining a frozen Pyrrha at the windows, Alkaid collapsed to her knees in shock at the scene before her eyes. Being in the D.O.A. had shielded her from the deaths but as she looked out at the devastation, she could see the true extent of what had been done to the City of Angels.

For miles around the Studio there was nothing but a vast plain of glass. Of the bustling city streets that usually occupied the area around the Underworld's entrance, there was no sign. They and everything for as far as the eye could see had been completely vaporized.

Charon walked up to her side and clicked his tongue as he took off his tortoise shell rimmed glasses and cleaned them. His empty sockets looked out at the disaster seeming impressed.

"Yeah I know, pretty impressive. Gods are very sore losers and we tend to best do our best work when annoyed." The boundary god said with an almost proud smirk, even as he thumbed towards a clock hanging on a wall. "Still, you two lasses are on the clock."

Taking a steadying breath, Alkaid staggered to her feet. She could break down later, right now Charon was right. They had a job to do.

"We need to move quickly." The sorceress told Pyrrha as she grabbed hold of her arm to keep her balance. "Zahhāk had to have been here, in L.A., for a good reason."

"The relic!"

"Exactly. And who do you think it'd be with?"

Pyrrha just shoots her a confused look.

"The thief set Percy up and now he's spoiled their plan. If you were in that situation what would you do?"

"Pick a fight with the idiot mortal." Charon chimed in, as he tilted his head in the direction of a wall mounted plasma T.V. "Which is exactly what Ares did."

The couple turned to look at the repeating video on Hephaestus T.V.'s breaking news segment showing the fight between Percy and Ares at Santa Monica Beach.

"He's the thief!?" Pyrrha screamed incredulously. She looked both ashamed and furious at the same time.

"Charon, I'm borrowing your car. It can go off road, right?"

"Oh, don't you dare." The Styx's ferryman said as he backed away from Alkaid. "You're not messing up my car with your shenanigans."

"Then how are we going to make it to Santa Monica?"

Growling in frustration, the god snapped his fingers and summoned a shadow portal. "There. Use that."

"Thank you." Alkaid offered him a tired grin. Considering what she'd just gone through she couldn't offer anything more.

Taking the lead she and Pyrrha travelled through the shadow tunnel to hopefully finally finish this disaster of a mission.

* * *

They emerged right next to Percy and company, startling them as they stood puzzling over a strange pair of daggers stabbed into the ground in front of them. They were a pair of reverse grip weapons fashioned in the shape of a mix between a beast's fangs and claws which reeked of dark power.

"Holy Olympus! What in the Pit is that!?" Pyrrha gasped at the sight of the blades and stepped back as if repulsed.

"Evil. Evil in physical form. Do not touch them." Alkaid panted as she looked sternly at the children. "None of you touched them, correct? I don't have it in me to help you if you did."

"Let me guess, you two are the reason L.A. has basically been written off the map?" Percy asked, his tone scathing as he panted heavily.

Pyrrha let a growl rumble through her throat, "Unlike you, Jackson, we didn't have an opponent that went easy on us."

"Easy?!" Percy snapped at her, looking like he wanted to take a stab at her.

"As expected of a daughter of Ares," Annabeth sneered. "Of course, you'd be sticking up for your father."

"Don't make me sew your mouth shut, child." Alkaid told the blonde in a clipped tone and with a dark look in her eye. "If Ares was actually serious, all three of you would be nothing but a smear in the sand. No mortal can stand up to a god's true power. Your hubris is showing, child of Athena."

"Uh guys," The satyr cut in. "Not to be the party pooper or anything. But aren't we in a rush? World War Three remember?"

"I remember just fine." Percy said, his voice a low growl. "It's just that someone's dad just bought a modern day apocalypse on L.A. because he's an impatient ass, making it kinda impossible for us to grab a flight and finish our quest."

"Wasn't him, moron. Why do you think we look ragged? Because what caused _that_ wanted a piece of you too. So show some appreciation, you whiny shit." Pyrrha snapped in anger.

"Yeah, like I'm going to believe anything from the daughter of the Lightning Thief!"

Alkaid barely held back from snarling at the boy. _He_ hadn't had to feel all the loss of life! And yet here he was tossing around blame for what happened!? The nerve!

She knew however that giving into her anger would just complicate the situation even further, so limiting herself to a mild glare she tried to reason with the son of Poseidon, "Percy, please. It doesn't matter if you don't believe us or even if you blame our fathers or us for what happened to L.A. What matters now is that you give us those daggers and my Father's Helm-"

"Actually, the Furies already took that." Grover Underwood helpfully explained.

"Thank you for informing us, Grover." Alkaid actually flashed him a tired smile.

 _Good, Father's mood should improve at least. He'll need it with the new rush of dead._

"Uh. No problem. They didn't want to take these daggers though, just said to wait for you two to show up to handle it."

"Yes. It's my job to do that. Just like the Helm and Bolt, these were stolen as well." Alkaid explained while omitting some details.

"They, um, also asked us to hand you this." The satyr said pulling out a flask of nectar that had a post-it with a scowling drawing of Alecto's face on it and a written note that asked Alkaid to take better care of herself.

"Thanks Nanny Alecto, you're the best." Alkaid praised the Fury.

Neither Annabeth or Percy seemed pleased that Grover was playing nice with them. In fact, both of them shot him betrayed looks.

Gulping down the drink of the gods, strength rushed into Alkaid and her shaking limbs finally calmed down.

"You said the daggers were stolen? From whom? They don't look Greek." Annabeth demanded.

"Top secret." Alkaid answered even as she passed the still half full flask to Pyrrha.

"Then you're not leaving here with them." Percy said drawing Riptide. "They're obviously bad news and I'm not about to let Hades get his hands on something that powerful."

"Yet you have to leave to stop World War Three. So Percy it is either you satisfy your curiosity or save the world. Your choice." Irritation filtered into the daughter of Hades' tone.

Percy looked ready to attack them, but Annabeth restrained him with a hand on his shoulder. Turning to glare at Alkaid, the daughter of wisdom spoke on their party's behalf.

"We'll tell the Olympians about these daggers. Whatever your Father plans to do with them, they'll stop you."

"Good. Lord Zeus gave me this job. So go and tattle." Alkaid dismissively waved at the blonde.

Annabeth's eyes widened for a moment, before narrowing in determination. "Let's see you sound so confident when the Council comes down on the Underworld."

"I await that with bated breath. Seriously, are we going to play the Last Word game or are you going?" She asked the children as she snapped her fingers. A portal of shadow appeared before them. "That will lead you straight to the Empire State building. Hurry along now. And be sure to tell your parents I say 'hello'. It's been a while since Lady Athena and I had a chat."

Both Percy and Annabeth startled at the burn, but had enough brains to not push the matter any further. Walking around the two misshapen daggers, the two younger demigods stepped through the portal.

"Sorry about them, they had a long day. And, uh, thank you." Grover waved as he followed his friends into the shadowy gateway. Pyrrha and Alkaid just nodded in return as the portal closed behind him.

"Ugh! I was this close to smacking those two idiots." Pyrrha confessed with a groan.

"I know." The brunette said as she placed a calming hand on her shoulder. "Our Fathers didn't exactly present themselves in the best light during these events though, so it is to be expected."

"At least Underwood was nice."

"Yes, I must say I'm growing fond of that satyr."

"So what now?"

"Now you two return those daggers and I get to head home. At last." A cultured sounding but oddly raspy voice said from behind the girls.

Spinning around they were greeted with the sight of a handsome Middle Eastern man dressed in an expensive looking Italian suit with a pair of snakes draped over his shoulders.

"Who?" Pyrrha asked as she drew her labrys.

"Zahhāk!?" Alkaid asked incredulously.

"I'm not a dragon all the time, you know." The man sniffed in annoyance.

"Yeah," The snake on the left hissed.

"We like being human sometimes too, ya know." The snake on the right added.

"You're snakes, not human. Fools."

"Close enough for us." The two snakes said in unison.

The man just groaned in longsuffering frustration.

"Lord Zahhāk, the daggers are yours. Please give your Father our deepest apologies for their theft."

"Good. Good." The god said as he walked towards the daggers.

"Though could you satisfy my curiosity and hear out my outlandish hypothesis on what actually transpired?"

Pyrrha looked at Alkaid with worry, obviously not enthused with the prospect of having to spend more time with the dragon god then necessary. But the daughter of Hades gave her a quelling look. This was important.

The man looked at her in annoyance as he stopped where he stood.

"And what is that, godling? I do have things to do. So be quick."

"Thank you, Lord Zahhāk." Alkaid smiled as she crossed her arms. "Well, my theory as ludicrous as it sounds is that your Lord Father, the mighty Angra Mainyu-"

As she spoke his name, the world seemed to dull and the whole world seemed monstrous for a moment. Alkaid felt a chill go down her spine at that, but soldiered on.

"-'gave' the daggers to my accursed grandfather, Kronos-"

At the mention of her Grandfather's name, the cold from the ocean washed over the area but this sensation was ignored by Alkaid and Zahhāk. Pyrrha actually held herself to warm up at the odd chill in the air. It was however a decidedly milder effect than the invocation of the god of all evils' name had created.

"-so he could intervene and get a chance at revenge against myself."

As she finished, Zahhāk's left snake gasped even as the right snake asked, "How did you know!?"

The handsome man palmed his face while groaning in frustration, "Dammit, both of you."

"I didn't." Alkaid said with a sly smirk. "You just told me. Thank you~!"

"Well, the cat's out of the bag. So I guess I'll just tell you. Yes, it's all true." The man said while glowering at both snake heads, who kept their mouths shut and looked away sheepishly, even as he picked up the daggers and twirled them around skillfully. "Those daggers are Tawrich: The Left Fang Grinder and Zarich: The Right Fang Grinder. They are my Father's personal weapons, akin to your gods' symbols of power. They are his fangs and claws. Any who wield them can access any power that a deava might possess, including invisibility. Even from the eyes of gods. Others too, of course. Like say, the ability to rend a soul to pieces at a single touch."

"How intriguing." Alkaid mused as she eyed the daggers as the god levelled them in her direction intimidatingly. Pyrrha tensed at the threatening display and stepped slightly in front of her lover.

"Yes, a grand lesson indeed, dear Nephew." Ahura Mazda, Zoroastrian god of creation said as he appeared without any fanfare to stand next to the girls.

The daggers fell to Zahhāk's sides in an instant. His eyes widening in shock as his twin snakes slithered down his shirt.

"Since you are in such a sharing mood, perhaps you might enlighten me as to whether your Father used the daggers as a medium to poison Ares' mind as well?"

The dark dragon god looked to Alkaid, who shot him a look that just screamed: Ha ha, you're in trouble.

Obviously fighting back a growl, the three headed god just nodded to his superior's question.

The being of light gave a disappointed sigh at that and stepped forward to grasp his nephew's shoulder.

"Let us depart, Nephew Zahhāk."

"Y-Yes Lord Uncle."

The god turned to Alkaid and smiled kindly, "Lady Alkaid, I promise you that Mainyu will be punished accordingly for this stunt. Please send my regards to Lord Zeus and your father, Lord Hades."

With a flash of warm white light, the two Persian gods and the daggers were gone.

With the threats gone, Alkaid released a breath she didn't know she was holding in.

"I need a vacation."

"I'm with you there." Pyrrha agreed.

* * *

"-And the latest reports from FEMA puts the death toll from the Great Los Angeles Quake at over eight thousand, including several notable Hollywood stars such as Matt Damon, Tom Hanks, Kevin Spacey, Oprah Winfrey and Meryl Streep. The death toll is expected to continue to rise as tens of thousands remain missing."

"Damn, it got Oprah too." Pyrrha said with a groan as she collapsed into a chair in Alkaid's room in the Underworld.

After their harrowing mission, the two Olympian Ambassadors-at-Large were recovering in the Underworld and watching the news to see just what the mortals had to say about the devastation that Zahhāk had left in his wake.

"Yes, it's shame. Hm, I wonder if I should start a few charities. Gods know how bad things have gotten for L.A." Alkaid hummed, feigning disinterest, as she looked at the property damage being shown on her T.V. screen.

Whole swathes of the city were nothing more than rubble or burned out ruins. It was an improvement from the plains of glass they had been in the initial aftermath of the dragon god's self-detonation thanks to the hard work of the Mist and the gods who managed it but were still scenes of utter devastation. A smaller window on the screen showed the Dow was sinking faster than the Titanic. Not unexpected considering the billions in property damage the disaster had caused.

"Well, at least this has pushed my dad 'kidnapping' Jackson and his gang out of the news." The daughter of Ares said with a relieved sigh.

"It's really chump change compared to this." Alkaid noted as she wrote a few things on a scratch pad.

 _What would the rebuilding effort need? Hmm… Construction equipment of course, but what else?_ The daughter of Hades thought with a frown as she tried to draw up a list of things she could help procure for the city.

"True," Pyrrha said while biting her lip nervously. "You don't think it gave the Fates ideas, right? I mean they won't arrange natural disasters just to cover up stuff, would they?"

Pausing her work, the brunette turned to her lover.

"It's possible." The daughter of Hades admitted hesitantly. "If this mission was any indication, then we may have to work on arranging diplomatic meetings in more rural areas. Or far off the beaten path. I don't think _anyone_ would like casualties on this level again."

"Shit, Kaidy! That's all you've gotta say?" Pyrrha growled. "This was our first mission and thousands of people are dead!"

"Tens of thousands, actually." Alkaid said solemnly, looking at her girlfriend with haunted eyes. "Maybe hundreds of thousands. I stopped counting by then. A good chunk of the city died and I felt them pass. I could sense them you know. Each and every one. I felt their lives get s-snuffed out."

The normally unflappable daughter of Hades stifled a sob as she ruthlessly suppressed the memory.

"Wha- But you didn't say anything!" The redhead said as she shot up in concern.

"We were fighting for our lives and trying to save even more lives." Alkaid said, looking away. "I-I couldn't afford to lose focus."

Alkaid felt Pyrrha pull her into a hug. "Oh, Kaidy! You self-sacrificing idiot."

The daughter of Hades felt tears well in her eyes.

"Pyrrha. I-I can't let this happen again. I don't think I could handle it." She sniffled as her arms tightened around the redhead.

"Shh. I'm here, I'm here." The daughter of Ares silenced her as she tried to calm her normally composed girlfriend.

If Alkaid wasn't having a break down, she'd have been surprised at how well Pyrrha was handling the situation.

As it stood however, all she could do was appreciate her comforting presence.

* * *

The couple spent almost a month after the disaster in L.A. enjoying a much deserved break in the Underworld. They spent time together and Alkaid had plenty of long therapeutic talks with some of the best counselors and other mind healers that Hades could find among the ranks of the dead. Between that and what the sorceress suspected was a fair bit of divine magic, she had largely overcome the trauma of the fight with Zahhāk.

 _Though I reserve the right to freak out if I ever see another three headed dragon._ Alkaid thought to herself half jokingly as she and Pyrrha prepared to return to Camp Half-Blood.

"Any other things you think you'll need?" Pyrrha asked as she finished sealing the trunk of potion ingredients Alkaid was bringing along.

Apparently Percy had been poisoned by a Pit Scorpion and Alkaid's young friend Gracie Gray had I.M.'d Alkaid begging for her help. The girl knew she was an Alchemist and combined that with the fact that she was a daughter of Hades which she guessed, correctly, meant she had at least a passing familiarity with the venom of the deadly arachnid, into a belief that she could help the son of Poseidon.

Honestly, Alkaid was unsure if there was any need. Chiron was more than capable of handling the situation on his own.

Still, seeing the pleading look of the young child of Hecate was something she just couldn't ignore. Alkaid could be a bit of a sucker for a teary eyed look.

"No. That's all I'll need to brew an antidote." Alkaid reassured her lover.

"Right, then let's get going." Pyrrha urged. "Before Jackson kicks the bucket."

The daughter of Hades rolled her eyes. For whatever reason, her girlfriend had lost all faith in Chiron and his abilities. She seemed convinced despite the centaur's reputation as a healer that without Alkaid, the trainer of heroes would be unable to save the son of Poseidon.

With an amused smirk, Alkaid conjured a shadow portal as Pyrrha hefted the trunk. As it stabilized, the couple walked through and arrived near the Big House.

As they stepped out of the shadows, Alkaid was immediately struck by how quiet the place was compared to the last time she was there. Intellectually she'd been expecting it since most of the campers were gone or already leaving, but the reality was still a surprise to her.

"Can't believe we missed the fireworks." Pyrrha grumbled as they headed for the infirmary.

"Is it that big of a deal?" Alkaid asked as she opened the door for her girlfriend.

"No, but we'll have to pick up our beads later."

Ah, yes. Those silly 'I survived another year' beads. Alkaid found it to be a juvenile novelty. A year was nothing to brag about.

"I totally agree with you, Alkaid." Mr. D said by way of greeting from where he was leaning against a pillar and sipping on a Diet Coke. "But the brats seem to find it important for some reason that I can't seem to fathom."

"Greetings, Lord Dionysus. It is wonderful to return to your care." Alkaid politely stated and curtseyed as she was taught.

The god waved the greeting away. "No need to lie to me, young lady, you hate this place as much as I do."

Alkaid blinked in confusion. The Lord of Madness was being surprisingly blunt and civil. _I wonder why?_

"Still, Lady Persephone would chide me if I did not act proper. Though I will keep that in mind." Alkaid said as she stepped through the house.

Ignoring her deflection, the god instead chose to answer the sorceress' unspoken question. "Your rank as our ambassador is worthy of respect, that's why. Plus, you've earned it with how you handled the Persians' meddling."

Alkaid flinched at the reminder of _that_ disaster and Pyrrha growled angrily but the daughter of Hades put a restraining hand on her lover's shoulder.

"Considering what that led up to, I don't feel I deserve any respect."

"Pish posh." Mr. D scoffed. "It's not like you killed all those mortals. Besides, it was their time anyways. Things wouldn't have played out that way if it wasn't part of the Fates' tapestry."

The brunette still didn't agree. Despite all the therapy she'd undergone she still felt incredibly guilty over what happened but she knew that arguing with the god any further was unwise.

"Please excuse me, Lord Dionysus, but I believe Percy needs me."

The god of wine sniffed in disdain. "That Macey Black girl called you in didn't she?"

"Yes."

"She tricked you, you know that right? The girl's disappeared. Just like all the other children of Hecate."

"He's in the infirmary?" Pyrrha asked as she went on ahead.

"Where else daft girl?" Mr. D said with a snort.

"Fish tank?"

The god actually laughed at the daughter of war's suggestion.

"If only."

"My lord, you were saying something about Gracie?"

"Yes, she and her siblings have all disappeared."

"I see. It is the end of summer. Mayhaps she just returned home for the year."

"Oh please. As if you believe that? If what Poseidon's boy told my Father is true, you and I both know what's on the rise. In fact you can feel it I bet with how long you've been in the Underworld."

The daughter of Hades could only respond with a grim look and the god nodded.

"Good. At least you're not stupid. Now if only you were the child, then we wouldn't have much to worry about. With barnacle boy, we might as well finish our bucket lists."

"I will keep the suggestion in mind, my Lord. If I may be excused? I need to see the patient."

The god of wine waved his hand, dismissing her as he wandered off.

Entering the infirmary, Alkaid came upon the sight of a sickly pale Percy and a strained looking centaur.

"Hello, Chiron." She cooly greeted.

The ancient centaur looked up at her, his fatigue vanishing for a brief moment as he returned her greeting. "Hello, Miss Potter. Welcome back."

Thumbing towards the trunk Pyrrha had carried in while Alkaid had been talking to Mr. D, she asked, "Does Percy need more antidote? I come bearing gifts."

* * *

 **Done and done! Thanks to the team of Nameless and Axios as always.**

 **Phew, now that was a tough chapter! The destruction, the devastation, Oprah! Truly the darkest of days are upon us. So we kinda** _ **glassed**_ **L.A. Sorry for those who live in L.A. it just short of happened. Blame Zahhāk and Nameless.**

 **Nameless: Yeah, I'm a mean monster that killed the City of Angels. Blame it all on me! I did it to give Alkaid some stress. Terrible aren't I?**

 **Our heroine feels guilty for all the deaths as they rang in her ear. She needed a lot of therapy to work through it, but hey, thanks to some great minds in the Underworld, she's on the path of recovery from the grief. Edit: So we had a guest reviewer going by Ryani accuse us of being inconsistent with Alkaid's characterization in this chapter in regards to her feelings about death. I'd like to point out that we explicitly spelled out in the chapter *why* Alkaid underwent this change. Namely that the scale of death she found herself being a first hand witness to proved too much for her and her nonchalance to death was blown away as she was _forced_ to empathize. And now Alkaid has returned to Camp because she's a semi-good person.**

 **Nameless: Yeah. Alkaid is just helping him along, is all. At the behest of Gracie Gray's call for help just before she flees Camp to join the Titans' army.**

 **So no Omake this chapter. We didn't think it would be appropriate considering what we've covered here.**

 **E4E: Kind of tough with the subject matter in it.**

 **You know what to do! Smash that review button and tell us what you love! No flames and peace off my peeps!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson or Harry Potter.**

 **Consul of the Underworld: Grinding Phase**

 **Chapter Five: Godly Beat'em Up**

 **Beta: ShadowofAxios**

* * *

"Ugh." Percy groaned as he struggled to push himself up into a sitting position.

"Careful there, Percy." Alkaid told the boy as she looked on from his bedside. "You're still recovering."

The son of Poseidon frowned even as his exhausted, recovering body forced him to collapse back onto his pillows in frustration.

"Here's your daily dose of medicine." The daughter of Hades said with an amused smirk at the boy's stubborn antics.

"What-" he said as he looked at the liquid. He frowned and looked back at her.

"Don't worry. It's only a 'poison' that will burn you inside out." She assured him, her emerald eyes dancing with mirth.

"Haha. Very funny, Alkaid." The boy deadpanned.

"I'm told that I'm the funny one of the family, so thank you. Now stop stalling. You're not going to be slaying monsters staying in bed."

Percy just huffed and obediently downed the vial of Pit Scorpion antidote.

"How long was I out this time?" He asked, his face scrunched up as the he downed the awful tasting potion.

"A few hours. Chase said she wanted to check in on you, so I'll go call her for you." Alkaid said as she turned to leave.

"Uh. Actually, could I talk to you for a while first?"

She turned around, an eyebrow cocked as she stared at him.

The son of Poseidon shifted in the bed. Clearly he wasn't sure what to say.

"Out with it Percy," Alkaid told him as if she was his teacher again.

"Well, I, um, just wanted to apologize you know." The boy said haltingly. "For the way I talked to you back at Santa Monica. I, uh, jumped the gun there."

"Oh, that? Not a problem." Alkaid brushed off his worry without a care.

 _At least not for me. He better be careful when dealing with Pyrrha though, she's still holding a grudge for the way he accused us of being responsible for what happened to L.A._

It was funny since holding grudges was her job. Then again, Alkaid was more than mollified by Percy's close run-in with death via deadly Underworld creature. She couldn't shake the feeling that the Fates had made Luke choose a Pit Scorpion as his tool of assassination as a subtle nod to her.

 _Now, if only I knew what they were trying to say. Or if I'm just overthinking things._

"To be honest, it was more amusing to see Chase trying so hard to scare me." The daughter of Hades giggled.

"I, well, I need to talk to you. I mean, you know what was going on right?" He asked her, his eyes seeming desperate for confirmation of his suspicions.

"You mean with our dearest Grandfather being on the rise? And that our Uncle, the King of Olympus brushed it off as if it didn't matter?"

He nodded, his eyes wide.

"Exactly!"

"Of course," Alkaid argreed.

"It's not just him." Percy said seriously. "The gods all don't seem to care. Even my dad brushed me off."

The daughter of Hades sighed, "Percy, please. Not all the gods are as stubborn as our Uncle. In fact, most of them are extremely paranoid. Already my Father is preparing his army. Other gods no doubt are preparing their own forces."

"Well, good for them. But I don't see many of them doing anything."

Resisting the urge to palm her face in frustration at her young cousin's immaturity, Alkaid said, "That's because they can't do so openly. With our Uncle actively ignoring the threat, they must do it in secret. To do it openly would attract his attention and invite accusations of planning a coup or some such nonsense. So mum's the word here."

"That's stupid." Percy insisted.

"Welcome to politics." Alkaid said with mirth. She always did like her fair share of political machinations. "On that note, you really should follow the gods' lead and learn to be discrete in your preparations before you run afoul of the nasty politics that our Uncle has stirred up with his denial."

"Huh?" The son of Poseidon said, looking thoroughly confused.

"Be smart and tactful, Percy."

"Oh."

Shaking her head in amusement at his antics, Alkaid once more turned to leave.

"A-Alkaid, wait. I want to talk a little more!"

The daughter of Hades obligingly turned around to see that her cousin was blushing up a storm. Deciding she deserved some fun at his expense, she smirked playfully and teasingly said. "So you want to _talk_ with me, huh?"

The thirteen year old's blush became practically glowing as he nodded. "Y-Yeah."

 _He's so easy to tease. I bet he's going to be absolute fun to have around._ Alkaid thought with amusement as she leaned against the door frame. She crossed her arms under her bust and leaned towards him, giving him a slightly better view.

"Uh, I." He swallowed heavily as he tried to speak.

Taking a little pity on him, Alkaid decided to fill in the conversation for him. "From what I've heard, your adventure brought your questmates closer together."

Of course, she wasn't totally giving up on teasing the living daylights out of him so she combined this with leaning back against the door frame once more but this time a tad more sensually.

Licking his clearly dry lips, Percy stammered out a reply. "Y-yeah, it, uh, did."

"Especially with Chase, right?" Alkaid said leadingly while suddenly abandoning all pretense of being a seductress and switching gears to being the disapproving teacher.

His reaction was priceless. He looked like he swallowed a lemon. "Y-Yes."

Alkaid stifled a resigned sigh. She disliked Percy's attraction to Chase. Very much so. She could already see where it would lead. It didn't escape her notice that Percy had the tendency to put himself down and over exaggerate the abilities of those he trusted. She could only imagine that would be much worse if that other person was his romantic partner. A worrisome fact in most situations, but when that person was a child of Athena and was burdened with the Fatal Flaw for hubris? Well, the possibilities of any such relationship becoming toxic was a cause of grave concern.

"Just be careful, Percy." The older demigod told him sincerely. "That girl is liable to break your heart."

"What?! I don't-! Come on, Alkaid." He brushed her off as his face reddened, "We're just friends."

"You say that now. Just keep my advice in mind, would you? Trust me when I say that it's likely to prove useful in the future."

His sea green eyes narrowed a bit, "Does Hades have some love domain?"

"No, just woman's intuition."

"Okay. Moving on!" Percy said loudly. "So Grover and Annabeth made up. They talked and she's not blaming him for what happened when they came to Camp anymore."

"Alright." Alkaid nodded, not really caring but she decided to humor him. "I'm sure Luke is a wonderful outlet for them to both hate on together. The little fool deserves it."

Percy looked at his lap, where his hands had tightened around the sheets.

"I can't believe he was the Lightning Thief."

Alkaid shook her head, "Luke's bitterness got the better of him. Grandfather capitalized on that and now he has become just another puppet. Trust me, if my Father ever got a hold of him, his suffering will be on a whole new level."

"And he'll deserve it." Percy said grimly.

Alkaid smiled, the boy had certainly gone through a bit of growing up during his quest.

"On to brighter news, I've been hired as a part-time trainer at Camp." The tall woman informed him with a quirked lip.

He blinked at her owlishly, "A-Are you sure the Campers are cool with that? I mean, are they still treating you like an outcast?"

"Some are nervous. Still, some have bothered to get to know me and have opened up. If only a little." She shrugged. It wasn't much but it was still an improvement from before. "It certainly helped that Chiron admitted he was wrong to treat me the way he did. He was reluctant about it but he did end up declaring me blameless for everything."

 _It was amusing to see him squirm._ Alkaid thought with dark humor as she recalled how the centaur was made to eat humble pie. She was slightly appeased, but she hadn't forgiven him entirely yet.

"Anyways, you rest up. You have a few days left before school correct? Chiron will want to make sure there aren't any side effects. Ta-ta for now."

She winked at him and walked out with a sway of her hips.

Hearing his audible gulp just made her giggle.

Gods, Percy was going to be fun to tease.

* * *

"So he's in the wrestling ring?" Pyrrha asked Alkaid, as the two headed over to the aforementioned ring.

"Yes. He said he wanted to and I quote 'get back into the groove.'" Alkaid agreed. "He just got out of the infirmary though, so I want to check up on him. I believe he is leaving Camp tomorrow. So now is probably the best time."

"I don't see what's so special about him." Pyrrha huffed in annoyance.

Mischief in her eyes, Alkaid leaned against her girlfriend, "Are you jealous, Pyrrha dearest?"

"Of what? Some pit-stain?" Pyrrha grunted. "Like hell."

"Don't you fret, Pyrrha! You know my eyes are on you. Day _and_ night." She wiggled her brows temptingly and earned herself a blushing child of Ares.

"Just come on, Kaidy!" She hurried ahead with a tittering brunette trailing after her at a more sedate pace.

They arrived there to find the son of Poseidon beating one of Pyrrha's brothers in the ring.

"Hmm, Jackson's actually pretty decent. Sherman's good in the ring." Cabin Five's Head Counselor observed, sounding slightly impressed.

"A compliment for the so called 'pit-stain'?"

"Shut up." Pyrrha playfully nudged her.

"Alkaid, Pyrrha!" Percy greeted with a wave as he noticed them.

"Hello Percy," Alkaid greeted, while her girlfriend just nodded. "How are you feeling? All better?"

"Yup." Percy reassured her, before smirking confidently. "Did you see me in the ring? I'm totally back to top form."

Pyrrha looked like she wanted to say a scathing remark, but Alkaid's look made her hold her tongue.

"I'm sure you are. I just wanted to check for myself. I'm glad you've made a full recovery."

"Yeah, thanks." The son of Poseidon said and grinned at her. "You want to go a round?"

The redhead stifled a laugh, covering her mouth as she looked to the side.

Glaring at her, Alkaid looked down at Percy and smiled, "Are you sure? I can be _slippery_."

The boy's face turned a bit red but he just nodded.

Shrugging, Alkaid walked to the ring along with her cousin.

It only lasted for a minute before Percy managed to pin her. Having her in such an compromising position caused some of the more hormonal guys around the ring to wolf whistle and that had the son of Poseidon blushing brightly once more. Despite that however it was impossible to miss the pride that Percy exuded at what he had accomplished. Alkaid felt a little bad about it but decided to bring him back down to Earth. It wouldn't do for him to grow a big head.

"I'm not that skilled in CQC, Percy." She teasingly informed him. "In fact, I'm quite useless at it."

He looked at her with a wide eyed look and pouted.

"Then what are you really good at? Archery or something?"

Alkaid winked and tapped the side of her nose with an index finger, "A magician never reveals her secrets."

He flustered at that.

"So you only do magic?"

"Something like that."

* * *

As the summer break was nearing its end, Alkaid and Pyrrha travelled to one of the Fire Temples in Mumbai in their capacities as Olympus' Ambassadors-at-Large to get an update on the situation with Angra Mainyu. The daughter of Hades had contacted Ahura Mazda a few days ago to get said update but had instead been asked to travel to India and visit one of the active Zoroastrian Fire Temples to get the information they needed.

With the use of an International Portkey, the couple was in India within a day.

Walking into the inner sanctum of the elaborate temple, the two Greek demigods found themselves before a large flaming brazier.

"Man this is very different from our Temples." Pyrrha said as she spun around, looking at everything.

"It's a different culture. Of course it's different." Alkaid told her as she examined the brazier more closely.

There was a shift in the air and Alkaid froze for a brief moment.

"Kaidy…"

The daughter of Hades grit her teeth as she looked all around them. Much to her dismay, Shadow Men were crawling out of the darkness like zombies. They couldn't even escape to the entrance of the temple as a large figure now stood before the doors.

He was at least eight feet tall with a rotund body. Though instead of a human head, he was sporting an elephant head that was wearing a jeweled headdress.

"Alkaid Potter, Pyrrha Branwen, in the name of Lord Angra Mainyu, I, Aka Manah, am here to deal his justice upon you." The chimera said as he strode into the room authoritatively.

"Come on, again?!" Pyrrha glowered as she drew her lybras.

"I doubt Lord Mazda will enjoy hearing about this, Lord Aka Manah." Alkaid tersely stated as she pulled out her Grimoire.

"Mazda forgets his place!" The dark god barked, even as he stopped a few feet away from the two women and joined the Shadow Men, closing the ring of enemies around them. "He thinks to order Lord Mainyu around as a servant but he forgets that they are _equal_ adversaries. His word has no bearing on My Lord's actions."

"So eager for war I see. Is he that petty?" Alkaid goaded him.

The elephant headed man just smiled, revealing a mouth full of vicious fangs. "You truly know nothing about us daevas if you even ask that question. We are manifestations of _evil and chaos_. We _thrive_ in war. Why then would we not seek it out?"

Deciding that the time for banter was over, Alkaid prepared for battle.

"Pyrrha, don't let the Shadow Men touch you! They drain your life!" The brunette shouted as she summoned a card and slammed her grimoire closed around it. **"Cleansing Light!"**

At her bidding, a burst of light erupted from the sorceress that caused the shadowy creatures to recoil as their bodies began smoking from exposure to the healing light, unfortunately it failed to do much else. Despite Alkaid's proficiency as a magic user, her alignment to shadow and death from her nature as a daughter of Hades meant any light based spell she used was weak at best. Something that was going to deeply hamper her in this fight.

"Wonderful." The redhead growled as she inched away from from the recovering Shadow Men and setting a trio of the monsters on fire with Miló as they closed.

"Use the bombs I gave you." Alkaid reminded her lover even as she pulled out a new spell card and tossed it at the cautiously advancing horde of Shadow Men. **"Elmekia Lance: Phalanx Formation!"**

At her invocation, an entire armory worth of lances of light appeared in a ring around her and Pyrrha. They spun around the two women for a moment before hurtling through the air like bullets to impale their enemies. Most of the Shadow Men proved remarkably able acrobats and managed to avoid the projectiles but a handful were nicked and spontaneously exploded into clouds of dark mist that quickly dissipated. For his part Aka Manah just swatted the trio of lances that flew in his direction out of the air with his bare hands.

While the enemy were suitably distracted, Pyrrha activated Akoúo̱ and pulled out a handful of small glass orbs filled with swirling liquid. Without any fanfare she threw the bombs into the throng of Shadow Men. As soon as the glass containing the volatile alchemical concoctions Alkaid had brewed shattered, a cluster of explosions rippled through the enemy ranks.

As befitting the work of a budding alchemist, the detonations created a range of varied effects. Some Shadow Men had been turned to stone. Others found themselves covered in acid though they seemed not to care as their skin bubbled from the corrosive liquid. Others still were on fire though like their acid coated brethren these seemed unaffected by the deadly substance that covered their skin. Just like with their earlier attack however Aka Manah had weathered it unscathed, having called up a aura of darkness to shield himself from harm.

"Holy shit!" Pyrrha shouted as she summoned more explosives.

Before she could lob them however, the temple's door flew open as a rush of wind cut through the room.

The Shadow Men fell to pieces as if they had been finely diced.

"Uh, Kaidy?"

"Don't look at me. I wish I could do that." Alkaid commented as she placed even more layers of defensive magic over herself and Pyrrha. Just to be safe.

A golden blur appeared before Aka Manah who was cloaked in his aura and holding his right hand up in the air fending off the blur. Suddenly the blur settled, to reveal the form of the Greek messenger god Hermes with his caduceus raised to bash the elephant head of the demon god in. Unfortunately, his symbol was being held back by said dark god's aura enshrouded hand.

"Aw, and that was rush ordered for your brain." Hermes, dressed in a mailman outfit, smiled impishly.

"As if I would be so easily struck down, little insect!"

"So this isn't your ichor?" Hermes asked as he held up a golden sword stained in black fluids.

Aka Manah was bewildered as he patted his stomach where a stab wound had seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

"When did he…?" Alkaid's mouth opened in astonishment.

"You'll pay for that, you annoying brat!" The Persian god bellowed as his eyes glowed with a dark aura.

Hermes was like the wind and in the blink of an eye he was already a good distance away. "Whoa now, no need to threaten a little guy like me."

" _ **Silence!"**_ The dark god said, his voice echoing not just through the air but through the minds of all present. At once, everything fell quiet. Hermes' mouth snapped shut. The snakes on his caduceus stopped hissing. Alkaid's ever racing mind stilled. Even the flame in the brazier stopped making sound even as it continued to burn.

Fighting through his mental command through sheer stubborn will was so exhausting that it left Alkaid panting for breath, even as her mind started to sluggishly start thinking again. _By the Pit! That was the most powerful mental attack I've ever seen!_

"Get out of my head!" Hermes yelled, having likewise fought pass the daeva's attack and blurred forward to charge his enemy. His sword stabbed nothing more than a quickly dissipating illusion however as the dark god's laughter echoed throughout the room and the minds of its occupants.

" _ **You have picked a fight with the wrong daeva, Greek."**_ The psychic god sneered. _**"Your precious speed and cleverness count for naught against me. The speed of thought is faster than even you and my control of the mind will easily turn your own scheming against you."**_

Slumping to her knees, the brunette shook her head as she fought to fight off the lingering effects of Aka Manah's influence. Looking to the side, her lover was on her hands and knees, panting as if she had ran a marathon. Her body was shivering as her lips moved, but no sound came out.

"Then I just won't scheme." Hermes shouted defiantly. "And let's test whether you _really_ can keep up with my speed!"

With that taunt, the messenger god blurred once more as he raced around the room.

" **Multi-Defenser!"** Alkaid screamed as she called on her defensive spell just in time to protect Pyrrha and herself from Hermes' reckless sword thrusts. They shattered the first two barriers of her multi-layered barrier in seconds and was making quick work of the rest. The god was attacking everything in the room in his desperate bid to get at the daeva, including it seemed his allies.

"Lord Hermes! Stop!" Alkaid cried out desperately as her defense crumbled.

" _ **Fool speedster. Perhaps you should look at just**_ **who** _ **you are attacking."**_

"What-!?" The god of travelers gasped in shock mid thrust as he froze directly over the two women huddled within Alkaid's spell. "Alkaid, Pyrrha? How? I thought I was attacking Manah!"

" _ **It seems you didn't just stop scheming, but thinking altogether."**_ The elephant headed god mocked as he materialized on the other side of the room. _**"To think you'd fall for such a simple illusion."**_

Hermes sent them an apologetic look before jumping back into the fight. He blurred towards the daeva only to collapse halfway there and clutched his head in agony.

"No! NO! **NO!** I will not let that happen!" The god screamed as golden ichor began to pour from his nose. "My family wIL **L NOT DIE!** "

" _ **But can you possibly stop it, puny god?"**_ The Persian asked with malicious kindness. _**"How could someone like you, the overlooked bastard of a lowly nymph, the errand boy, the joke, ever hope to stand up against the Crooked One?"**_

The mighty Hermes broke into sobs.

"It's all true. I'm nothing more than a joke to the rest of the Council. The comedy relief. I'm weak." The god cried out, revealing what must been one of his deepest sources of insecurity.

" _ **Yes, and because of that weakness all you love will di-"**_

Aka Manah never got a chance to finish his damning words before his whole head was consumed by a column of flames courtesy of Miló.

"Ass. Hole." Pyrrha panted as she held up her wrist. "Kick his ass, Lord Hermes. You can do it!"

Alkaid wasn't sure she agreed. It was obvious that this was a terrible match up for the messenger god. The psychic powers of the daeva was just something that he had no ready counter for. If he was Athena or one of the other gods versed in the mind arts then maybe they had a chance, but outside of clever trickery Hermes had no skill in that regard. A fact that was proving quite the major disadvantage.

"Thanks girls." Hermes said as he shakily got back to his feet and glared at his opponent who was absentmindedly smothering any lingering flames that clung to his body. "Ready for round two?"

"Certainly." The daeva said with a smirk, as he finished patting out the last of the embers.

Pyrrha was muttering prayers under her breath, her eyes glued on the combatants. The brunette was stuck by an idea as she turned to the brazier that was still standing despite Hermes' whirlwind of attacks.

Clasping her hands together, Alkaid began to pray as well.

The two gods readied themselves for another clash. Hermes' form began to blur at the edges as he prepared to utilise his speed while Aka Manah's aura writhed in sick anticipation. They were interrupted before they got going however when the fire in the brazier that was the heart of the temple transformed into a pillar of flame and unleashed a burst of light so intense that everyone was blinded.

"All conflict will **CEASE!"**

As the word echoed through the halls of the temple, all present felt the crushing weight of the word. It was like the weight of the world was pressing down on them, commanding them to obey. Both Alkaid and Pyrrha fell prostrate immediately. Hermes froze and bowed his head in respect. Even Manah dipped his head, even as he scowled in displeasure.

Standing in the middle of the room, glowing mightily, was Mazda himself, a large frown on his face.

"Aka Manah, I am most _displeased_ with you today." The supreme Zoroastrian god said as he loomed over the lesser god of his pantheon.

The deava sneered but said nothing.

The lord of creation didn't seem to expect a reply however and just glared at the elephant headed god. "You'll be having words with me after this. I would like to explain my displeasure. In excruciating detail. Await me in my office. Mithra will let you in."

"As you command, Lord of the _Ahuras_." The daeva said, emphasizing the last word. A clear reminder that while he recognized Mazda's authority, he did not see him as _his_ lord. With his point made, the dark god teleported away.

Mazda seemed satisfied with this and nodded before turning to face the Greeks.

"So, sorry about the mess?" Hermes said to Mazda.

The leader of the Persian gods waved it off. "Do not worry about that, Lord Hermes. It is I who should apologize for allowing a diplomatic meeting to transform into a ambush."

"How did that happen, anyways?"

"Mainyu of course." The god of light explained with a frustrated sigh. "He somehow managed to hack into Mithra's system and messed up my schedule for today. He then distracted me with a petty matter so I didn't notice as Miss Potter and Miss Branwen arrived. As such, I wasn't even aware that the ladies, much less your august self, were even in India until the fight was well underway."

"I see." Hermes nodded along with a sympathetic smile. Alkaid did the same, she too could understand having to deal with reckless hotheads undermining diplomatic overtures.

"My Lords, if I might cut in." At nods from both gods, Alkaid continued. "May I know what is the situation with Lord Mainyu now?"

The Persian god shot her an apologetic look."I'm afraid Miss Potter that it is not as good as you might hope. I've managed to have him swear an Oath on his being that he will stay out of the affairs of the Greeks in the future."

"Only the affairs of the Greeks?" Hermes asked, shooting Pyrrha and Alkaid worried looks. Alkaid understood the implication. The terms technically did not cover them, not when they were operating within the spheres of influences of other pantheons. Even Pyrrha seemed to get it as she grit her teeth in anger.

"Yes. He refused outright to even consider expanding it to cover Olympus."

"Damn." The Greek god of messengers cussed. "That still gives him plenty of leeway."

"I am aware. However, it was the best I could get from him." The Persian confessed. "I'm afraid we'll just have to live with it."

"It is regrettable." Alkaid agreed. "But we nevertheless thank you for your assistance."

"It was my pleasure." The lord of creation assured them, before glancing at his watch. "I apologize ladies, Lord Hermes, I had planned to show the girls some of my hospitality but with recent developments I must make a move. Perhaps next time?"

Both demigoddesses politely nodded.

"For now, feel free to use this temple for as long as you need. Once again, it was my pleasure to be of assistance and a great one to have you as my guests. May I see you again soon."

With that, the Persian god vanished in a pillar of flame.

"And I thought Dad was dramatic." Hermes shook his head in rueful amusement. Turning to the girls, the god of messengers flashed them an apologetic look, "So, about almost killing you guys. That was an accident. I mean, seriously, if we lost Alkaid here we would have been in deep trouble. That's why I came, you know. To save her, uh, I mean both of you!"

The god pinched his nose to stop the bleeding even as he blushed lightly at his blunder before adding. "So, anyways, I was delivering a message up in our old stomping grounds over in Afghanistan when I saw you gals in trouble and decided to pop in."

"Thank you, Lord Hermes." Alkaid said with a grateful bow that Pyrrha emulated.

"Don't worry about it, Cousin. I had to do it. See diplomacy is kinda our biggest weakness. Mainly because Dad's a real dick and ruins it every time. And I mean _every_ time. So we really, really need you. So keep up the good work, okay? We're counting on you. Bye!"

Before Alkaid could ask Hermes for more clarification, he was gone in a burst of speed.

"I was going to ask about benefits." Alkaid wrinkled her nose.

"I think it's just us getting to live. And clean up shit." Pyrrha said as she stood by her, her hands resting behind her head.

Rubbing her temples, the daughter of Hades said, "I'm inclined to agree. Shall we at least enjoy the scenery before heading home?"

"Do ya even have to ask?"

* * *

After a few days in India, with a lot of shopping. The most notable of which being some rather alluring traditional Indian clothing like saris and fashionable anarkali suits for each of them, the couple arrived back in Camp looking rather pleased with their mini-vacation.

They found it mostly empty, save for the twenty or so campers that remained to stay year round.

"So Kaidy. Other than that mishap at the start of the summer, how'd you like Camp?"

"It's not my idea of fun." Alkaid replied honestly. "If not for the need to help the Campers prepare for Grandfather's return I'd never have agreed to stay or work here. Even part-time."

Pyrrha fingered her leather necklace and the string of Camp beads that hung from it, "At least you got one of these."

"Yes. I'm elated." Alkaid deadpanned, before sarcastically adding. "They match my aesthetic style perfectly."

"We'll make some skull beads for you." Pyrrha grinned at her.

"Very funny, Py. You're hilarious."

The redhead's grin just grew broader.

Their moment of levity was interrupted however when a satyr cantered over to them. "Miss Potter, um, there's a letter for you. Mr. D- Uh right he said to call him Lord Dionysus when I told you. Anyways, he said that it's important. Something about your family."

Alkaid blinked. It looked like Mr. D was playing games even as he gave hints. _I guess he must really be bored if he's playing silly games like this._

"He insisted on you calling him by his real name when you delivered the message?" Pyrrha blinked in confusion and earned a nod from the nature spirit. "Why?"

"To tell me that this is about godly family business. Namely about the House of Hades." Alkaid explained to her lover. Turning to the satyr, she offered him a small smile. "Thank you. I will pick it up in the Big House."

The satyr shook his head, "Actually, Lord Dionysus insisted I hand it to you as soon as you got here."

"What's the rush?" Pyrrha asked with a frown.

The poor satyr just gave a helpless shrug as he pulled the letter out of his satchel bag and handed it over to the brunette.

"It's from Su." Alkaid noted as she received the letter and shooed the satyr off with another kind smile.

"From Hogwarts? What's she got to do with the House of Hades."

Alkaid just shook her head, she didn't know either. Something that she wished remained true as she finished reading the letter.

"She's just given birth to a baby girl." The daughter of Hades said with a groan.

"Okay~. Good for her. Still not seeing the link."

"She's asking for a way to contact Melinoe."

"Oh."

"Yes, oh." Alkaid noted with an almost disappointed sigh. "It looks like I've just become an auntie."

"Did she outright say it was Melinoe's? Maybe it was a mistake?"

"I don't believe so. Unless Su sleeps around. She doesn't seem the type though." Alkaid knitted her brow in thought. "Whatever the case, there's only one way to find out for sure."

"London?"

The brunette just nodded, before letting out a frustrated groan. "And we just got back."

* * *

As the couple stepped into Su Li's small London apartment, all hope that it was a mistake evaporated. The moment they set eyes on the baby girl in their old schoolmate's arms, they knew that Melinoe was her father.

"She has Mel's eyes. And hair. Wow I forget how powerful godly genes are." Alkaid noted absently as she stared in wide eyed shock at her newborn niece. She looked like a miniature copy of the goddess of ghosts, down to the ethereal bluish looking skin.

"Godly?" Su giggled. "I know you and your sister are beautiful, Alkaid, but you're hardly goddesses."

"No. Su you must understand. Oh gods, how do I even begin? Pyrrha. Say things now."

Pyrrha shook her head at the mental blue screen of death Alkaid was suffering at seeing proof of her Sister's procreative abilities and picked up the slack. Grudgingly.

"Urgh! Fine. So, Su, first things first, the gods are real-"

Alkaid tuned out the rest of Pyrrha's explanation, instead pulling out her phone and dialing her sister.

As the call connected, loud music could be heard in the background as a voice shouted a greeting, _"Hello~~! Sup, baby sis?"_

"Melinoe. You come to me right now or I'm telling Father about that incident when I was eight."

" _What? Whoo! Hey, we agreed to never talk about that!"_

"It doesn't matter. Unless you get here _now_ , I'm telling."

"Fuck, fine fine. What?" Melinoe said as she walked out of a shadow. She was in a stringy tanktop, cropped shorts and also covered in glitter.

"Mel!?" Su gasped in shock at the sight of her lover.

The goddess turned to Su, "Hey girl, how you doin'?"

"I'm, um, doing well." The Chinese girl said hesitantly, presenting their daughter to the girl's father. "And so is Xiao Jiao."

Melinoe just froze in shock at seeing her child who was looking at her with a searching look before seeming satisfied with what she'd seen and closed her eyes for a nap.

"Mel. I'm an auntie." Alkaid pointed to the child in Su's arms.

"...Shit. I didn't think I blew her mind that hard. I mean, I know I did, but still!"

"Mel! Really?" Alkaid scolded. "You fathered a child and you didn't even notice?"

"What? I was feeling Hermdite."

"Hold up, she can do that?" Pyrrha said looking at Alkaid in stunned amazement.

"Yes," Alkaid and Su said at the same time. Alkaid with a groan and Su with a blissful smile of remembrance.

Pyrrha turned a little green at the idea.

"I'd offer to give one to Al here, but I didn't want her to knock you up Miss Piggy."

The look of disgust on Pyrrha's face faded, she still looked uncomfortable but there was also a hint of longing there now.

"I, um, might actually like that. Having a kid I mean."

Alkaid startled at that and shot her lover a look of pure surprise.

Melinoe cursed and palmed her face, "Shit, I just gave her that idea."

"Um, hello?" Su asked quietly and the three women turned to her.

"Sorry Suzy-Babe," Melinoe said sounding genuinely apologetic. "It's just the shock I guess. Falling back to old patterns and all."

"I-Is what Pyrrha said true? Are you a goddess?"

"Yup, Melinoe, goddess of ghosts. Daughter of Hades." The oldest princess of the Underworld announced herself with pride. "Can I hold Jiao?"

Su nodded and handed their daughter over. "Be careful with her head-"

She began instructing Melinoe on how to properly hold a baby but the goddess cut her off. "No worries. I carried Al here when she was a tiny thing. Hell, Jiao looks a lot like she did. Going to be a hot little thing for sure."

"Of course she will." Su said with a smile. "You'll be around to keep all the unworthy suitors away, right?"

"Uh, not really." Melinoe said, her voice strained. "I can visit once in a while, but no more than that."

"What do you mean?"

Alkaid placed a hand on Su's arm, "Mel will explain everything to you." She looked at her sister sternly, "To the last detail. If you need _anything_ Su, send me a letter."

"Or I.M. either of us." Pyrrha added.

"What?"

"Again, Mel will explain." Alkaid told her reassuringly. "For now, I think Pyrrha and I will leave. Give you two and Jiao some space."

Already ideas for toys for her niece flooded her head. Looks like she had to do more shopping. Before that though, there was something she needed to ask Pyrrha. Something important.

* * *

The couple were walking the streets of London, their minds going over what had transpired in Su's apartement.

"Py, were you being honest about what you said about having kids?" Alkaid asked hesitantly.

Pyrrha's face matched the color of her hair.

"I mean, I really like you Kaidy. Like legit."

"Really?" The daughter of Hades asked hopefully.

The sorcercess hadn't put much thought into having children, but now that the matter had been raised. It was like a seed had had been planted and was now tentatively germinating. She wouldn't mind children. In fact she _wanted_ children. More importantly, she wanted Pyrrha's!

"Yeah," Pyrrha told her, the blush on her face growing even more incandescent. "Not now, of course, you have school and there's a war brewing. But sometime in the future, yeah, I'd like it if we had kids."

Alkaid's only response was to jump Pyrrha and pull her into a loving kiss. Pyrrha faltered a step from the surprise jump but recovered quickly and held onto her tightly as they kissed.

The lovebirds were so distracted by their kissing that they completely failed to notice the unnatural fog bank that steadily filled up the streets around them and how they steadily emptied of any and all mortals.

They were finally pulled from their passion by the voice of a little girl.

"Are you my mummy?"

Jumping apart the two demigods turned to see a pretty silver haired little girl in a black summer dress, dark red tights and a pair of mary janes. She would have looked utterly adorable if only she wasn't also holding a butcher knife in her left hand while her right clutched a scalpel that dripped blood.

Looking at the girls with a hopeful expression, she repeated her question. "Are either of you my mummy?"

Pyrrha opened her mouth to reply, but Alkaid put up a hand to stop her and stepped forward instead. She didn't know if her lover had managed to pick up on it but this girl radiated power. It felt different in some ways to anything she'd ever encountered, but similar in some very important ways too.

This girl was a goddess.

"My Lady, are you alright?" She asked, squashing her anxiety with the help of years of practice even as she felt death radiating from this girl. "You seem rather confused."

The silver haired girl cocked her head to the side with a frown, "Mummy wouldn't ask a silly question like that."

The strange goddess turned to Pyrrha then and asked, "Are you my mummy?"

Alkaid could see the redhead already mouthing a negative reply so she quickly stepped on her lover's foot. It probably wasn't a good idea to upset what was increasingly looking like a deluded goddess.

The daughter of Ares shot Alkaid an annoyed look in reply out of the corner of her eye even as replied in an uncharacteristically polite tone, "Do you need assistance, My Lady?"

The goddess pouted and stomped her foot. The pavement spider cracking and crumbling from the childish action.

"I want my mummy!" The girl whined as the fog engulfed her and she disappeared from sight.

"Kaidy, what's going on here?" Pyrrha hissed as her eyes scanned the thickening fog.

"I'm not entirely sure." Alkaid replied, as she scanned the fog cautiously. "But I believe she might be a former mortal that doesn't know that she has become a god, that might explain her behavior. Either that or she's insane. Maybe both."

"Is that even possible?" Pyrrha hissed, as shadows began darting through the mist.

"If the transformation was too sudden, she might not have noticed. Especially if she wasn't in her right mind at the time." The daughter of Hades hypothesized.

"How did she even become a god to begin with?"

"I don't- Get down!" Alkaid shouted as she threw herself to the ground to avoid a shadow that burst from the fog in an blur of speed that she could barely follow.

Pyrrha however chose to hold her ground instead and summoned her labrys to deflect a blow from the girl's butcher knife. The force of the deflection sent the girl flying but she recovered with a graceful mid air flip and landed effortlessly back on the ground.

"Are you my mummy?" The girl asked once more, hope seemingly oozing out of every word.

The daughter of war's reply was to raise Miló and send a tongue of flame at her. The girl easily evaded getting cooked alive however by bouncing off the ground and leaping back into the fog, a demented giggle trailing after her as she disappeared from view.

"This is fun! Mummy is playing with me!" The goddess' voice echoed from all around them, even as Alkaid jumped back to her feet.

"Pyrrha!" The sorceress cried out in alarm and dashed towards her girlfriend. If they were seperated, the goddess would pick them off even faster.

The daughter of Hades hadn't moved ten feet before several knives sank into the ground before her. She faltered in her steps and jerked back instinctively as the girl materialized in front of her. She found herself looking directly into the yellowish-green eyes of the girl. They were glittering with excitement.

"Tag~! Mummy, you're it!" The girl said before sprinting back into the cover of the fog.

Heart pounding in her ribcage, Alkaid wanted to say something, anything that could possibly calm the girl down. All that she managed was a haggard cough. Covering her mouth, the brunette looked down at her hand and noted red speckles covering her palm.

 _Shit! This fog, is it a curse? Poisonous?_ Alkaid quickly covered her head with the Bubble-Head Charm. She looked around for Pyrrha but already the dense fog obscured her sight.

"Mummy, what's that over you head? It's funny." The demented child asked with genuine curiosity and amusement as she skipped out of the fog right in front of Alkaid.

The sorceress flinched at her sudden appearance and tried to formulate a reply, but the goddess continued before she could even begin thinking. "Are we playing bubbles? I love playing bubbles! It's so much fun when they go pop!"

Gleefully the goddess spun around and as she turned back to face Alkaid threw her scalpel at the protective bubble around her face, bursting it easily.

The daughter of Hades tensed, ready for whatever follow up attack from the goddess but instead of doing so the girl giggled with delight and stepped back into the fog.

Alkaid breathed a sigh of relief for the respite and immediately began coughing from whatever poisonous effect the mist was laced with. She was tempted to use another Bubble-Head Charm, but thought better of it. She didn't want to risk another attack from the insane goddess for 'playing bubbles.'

 _I'll just have to tough it out._ Alkaid reasoned. _Use some healing spells whenever things get too rough._

"Pyrrha!" She called out with worry as her body shook with pain. Pushing through the fog, Alkaid used the Point Me Charm to locate her lover. Moving through the dense fog, her charm pointed wildly as if it was confused.

 _Now it's interfering with my magic too? What can't this damn fog do!?_ Alkaid thought in growing frustration.

"Mummy, let's keep having fun!" The deranged girl giggled as she landed on Alkaid's back. The tall woman faltered from the impact and landed face first onto the ground. Before she could so much as react, pain shot through her body as the goddess effortlessly cut through her defenses and stabbed her half a dozen times through the ribs.

Just as suddenly as the attack began, it ended and while still giggling childishly her assailant vanished back into the fog.

The pain was jarring and spots began to fill her vision.

" **Incantare: Tiber Benedictiones!"** Alkaid invoked desperately as blood began to trickle down from her lips. The Roman healing spell quickly did its work and repaired the damage from the multiple stab wounds. Most of it at least. It had done enough to let her move with only minor pain and that was good enough for now, but not for the first time she cursed her own lack of affinity for healing spells.

Staggering to her feet, the daughter of the Silent One looked around her. Shadows writhed at her feet like tendrils as her panic rose at each giggle that filled the air.

"Pyrrha!" She shouted, sound wasn't dampened by whatever magic was part of the fog.

It was muffled, Alkaid had to strain her ears but she heard a faint noise that sounded like a reply.

The child of Hades ran towards it as she called on every ounce of strength her body had. She had to get to Pyrrha. As if to spite her determination, the fog grew denser the further she ran into it making it seem like she was making no progress whatsoever.

"Ah!" Pyrrha screamed as she landed in front of her in a bleeding heap. The daughter of Ares was covered in stab wounds and lacerations. Her blood was spreading all over the ground around as she violently coughed out more of the sanguine liquid.

Alkaid ran to her with a shout of her name, but pulled up short as the little girl appeared in front of her with a sweet smile on her face.

"Mummy, do you like to dance? I like to dance. Let's dance!" The insane goddess ranted as suddenly a storm of knives flew at the two demigoddesses from every direction.

Alkaid reacted as fast as she could. Calling on the shadows, tendrils of darkness came alive and whipped wildly in the air in an attempt to shield or bat away the dozens of projectiles. They proved useless however as the knives flew through them like they weren't even there.

Within the blink of an eye, Alkaid was forced to her knees as the storm of blades cut her in what felt like a hundred different places. She was on the verge of collapse and it was only her stubborn will to live that was keeping her going. She suspected Pyrrha was much the same. That and what she was starting to suspect that the goddess completely lacked the desire to kill them.

Considering all she'd done so far, it was almost certainly well within her ability to kill them outright. Instead, she seemed to just be playing with them. If she were any other god that Alkaid knew, she'd have chalked this up a sadistic desire to toy with their victims. However, in this case the daughter of Hades strongly suspected the girl genuinely thought they were playing a game. That and she was pretty sure the girl was still waiting on them to answer the question that seemed to be her raison d'être.

"Are you my mummy?" The girl asked for the umpteenth time with wistful hope.

" **Dark Blessing: Black Cleansing."** Alkaid croaked out desperately. Darkness flooded into her veins and healed her. She had a plan, but she needed to not be dying to pull it off.

"Yes!" Alkaid shouted with as much confidence as she could muster.

"Really?" The goddess asks skeptically.

"Yes, I'll even swear it on the Styx!" Alkaid swore as earnestly as only one who is desperate to save their own life could, even as the sky rumbled with the magical thunder of a divinely sealed Oath.

"Sticks? What's that?" The girl said, as she tilted her head in innocent confusion. "Like pick up sticks?"

 _Well, at least that means I know there's no way she's Greek or Roman._

"It's a river."

"Like the Thames?"

"Bigger." Alkaid stated, before a gurgling sound had her quickly shooting a look at Pyrrha who was trying to say something but only managing to blow bloody bubbles out of her mouth. "But could I continue explaining after healing Py- Uh! Your other mommy? She's bleeding out."

The girl gasped, "I have two mummies? Yay!"

Alkaid took that as permission. " **Incantare: Tiber Benedictiones!** "

In contrast to her incomplete healing when the spell had been used on herself, this time the god of the Tiber seemed to be feeling generous to her or maybe it was for Pyrrha's sake, whichever was the case it worked wonders. Where in her case it only partially healed her wounds, this time it restored the daughter of Ares back to perfect health.

Once it did however, the crazy goddess pounced on the redhead. "Are you my mummy?"

Pyrrha looked frantically towards Alkaid, who just nodded tightly.

"Y-Yeah. Sure, I'm your mom."

Alkaid nudged her and hissed under her breath. "Oath?"

Pyrrha frowned but at the insistent glare Alkaid sent her and the nod to the confused but expectant look from the goddess, she just sighed and added. "So I swear on the Styx."

Again mystical thunder echoed through the heavens, and caused the goddess to cheer.

"Yay! I have mummies!" She cried out with joy as she bounced up and down, looking at them in excitement. She soon gasped however, covering her mouth, "Oh no, mummies are hurt! A-Am I a bad girl? I didn't mean to mummies!"

Her large eyes grew teary at what she had done to the pair. Her mood flipping faster than a switch.

Alkaid froze, the look in the girl's eyes touched her in an odd way that she'd never felt before. Sure, the crazy girl that was now her daughter was on the verge of killing her just a moment ago but for some reason looking at the distressed look on her face now had her wanting to pull the girl into a hug and comfort her.

 _Is this the power of the Oath? Or the girl's?_ The daughter of Hades thought as she tried to figure out the source of the sudden surge in her maternal instinct.

"Oh, for gods' sake." Pyrrha said with a groan as she pushed to her feet and pulled their daughter into a hug. "There, there, uh, sweetheart, it's okay. Mummies aren't mad with you. We promise. Right, Kaidy?"

The question snapped Alkaid out of her thoughts and she nodded earnestly.

 _After all considering she seems unhinged, I can't exactly blame her for her behavior._

"That's right. We don't blame you at all." The daughter of Hades said with a comforting smile.

The fog slowly began to part and it was suddenly easier to breathe. As they somewhat awkwardly comforted their new child, questions on just who this goddess was sprang into Alkaid's mind.

"Alkaid!" Melinoe shouted as she teleported in. She was dressed in translucent ghost-like Greek armor and surrounded by an aura that breathed deadly menace. The goddess of ghosts surveyed the scene in an instant and her eyes narrowed on Alkaid's new daughter.

"Jack the Ripper!" She hissed. "Step away from that insane little bitch, Kaidy! She's dangerous."

 _Well, at least now I know who my little girl is._ Alkaid thought with resignation. _She just happens to be the goddess of serial killers!_

Not letting any of her inner turmoil show, Alkaid held up her hand to her sister before she could attempt to butcher her new daughter.

"Melinoe, calm down!"

"Look at you! How am I supposed to be calm?!"

The girl whimpered as she pressed her face against Pyrrha's body in an attempt to hide herself.

"She's our daughter now. Don't harm her, alright?" Alkaid pleaded to Melinoe. She knew her sister was very protective of her, but if she snapped at the young goddess, she feared for her and Pyrrha being caught in the crossfire.

The ghost goddess ground her teeth, agonized souls leaking out of her armor as her anger mounted.

"Daughter!?"

"Yeah," Pyrrha agreed as she stroked their daughter's silver hair tenderly." We both swore on the Styx."

"...You're going to explain this to Dad. Us Kaidy! You're going to be in _so_ much trouble."

"We're alive. That's all that matters." Alkaid said with a shrug, feeling utterly exhausted. "I think he'll understand."

With that, Melinoe opened a shadow portal and pointed at it sternly.

"Really? Well, then I'd like to see you try." The goddess said crossing her arms over her chest and glared down on her.

The order was clear.

Too tired to complain the couple, and their new child, walked through the provided portal to return to the Underworld and the scolding that awaited.

* * *

 **Omake: The Birth of Smite!**

Apollo was happily cruising through the skies as he did all day, everyday in the Sun Chariot and getting bored out of her mind. Despite the great privilege it was to have succeeded Helios as the sun god, it nevertheless didn't change the fact that it was one of the most boring things to do in the whole world. Except for needing to evade the odd obstacles like inconsiderate Chinese Celestial dragons and whatnot, there was absolutely nothing to do up here.

In order to fill up the time, he'd tried music, movies, T.V. shows, and any entertainment media that man and god had ever conceived. But that too had grown old after the centuries. As such, he'd taken to recording memorable events that he'd seen from on high and watching it again when all else failed.

He had just finished watching his cousin Alkaid's recent confrontations with the Zoroastrians. Even his old friend Hermes had got a chance to join in on the fun during their last visit to Mumbai. The lucky bastard. How Apollo envied him for the chance to fight another god. Few Olympian gods had the chance to do something so exhilarating in centuries.

"Hm, gods fighting gods…"

He was driving over Europe when he spotted Melinoe down in London.

"Mm, maybe we can meet up again."

He looked closer and saw that she was holding a half-blood in her arms. One that held a striking resemblance to her.

"Aw, that's nice. I should leave her alone for a while I guess."

He had plenty of booty calls to take his mind off of Melinoe. Even if she was a kinky thing.

Apollo was about to turn his attention elsewhere when a dense blanket of fog nearby caught his eye. His sky blue eyes looked harder and saw Olympus' duo of diplomats being attacked by a tiny goddess of some kind.

"Who the heck is that? Man, she's got a death wish to attack Uncle H's kid like that." Apollo noted absentmindedly. "Though those girls do seem to get into a lot of fights with gods, huh?"

Watching the fight ensue, an idea struck him.

"Hmm… Fights with gods… Fighting gods! Oh! That's a great idea!" Apollo crowed. "Alright, who to get on this? Microsoft? Nah, they have Halo. Let's try some other company. Hi-Rez is pretty fresh but they've got promise. I'll try them. Now what to call it?"

Hundreds of names flew through his mind as he dismissed all but a handful.

"Godly Rumble, Divines Divided, Smite...oh, I like that one! Alright, Smite it is."

* * *

 **Done and done! Thanks to the wonderful team of Nameless and Axios as always.**

 **Whew, talk about twists and turns huh? At least Percy is more trusting of Alkaid now.**

 **Nameless: Yup, and once you get Percy's trust you get it forever so long as you don't betray him. So now that's she's got it, we're all set for some friendly Percy and Alkaid interaction.**

 **So Su has given birth. To Mel's child no less! Is it weird? Well, Apollo has given children to his male lovers, so I think Mel impregnating a woman isn't so unbelievable. At least given what she's been known to do~**

 **Nameless: Considering how Athena reproduces too… And there's people like Loki who manages to have kids while locked away and enduring eternal torment. Yeah, the ways gods have children are weird. So Melinoe impregnating another woman isn't really that strange.**

 **Alkaid and Pyrrha are now proud mothers! Of Jack the Ripper no less. Wow, she'll fit in with the House of Hades just fine, right? I guess after getting excited to have a niece, Al got so baby excited that one just came right up to her. As for those who might have missed it, Jackie here has appeared in Book One of COTU. Just wanted to make sure you all remember.**

 **Nameless: I certainly do. Hermes will definitely not like her. Wonder which other Olympians** **she's managed to piss off in her time as the wandering killer of London? E4E any clue?**

 **Nope!**

 **Nameless: Well, let's hope her past actions don't come and bite Alkaid in the butt further down the road. Oh, who are we kidding? Of course it will. Eventually. [Evil smirk]**

 **You know what to do, smash that review button and tell us what you love! No flames and peace off my peeps!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson or Harry Potter.**

 **Consul of the Underworld: Grinding Phase**

 **Chapter Six: Our Little Killer and the Eventful Ball**

 **Beta: ShadowofAxios**

* * *

Standing in her Father's throne room, Alkaid resisted the urge to fidget as he looked down at her with displeasure. Usually that look was reserved for Melinoe, so it was strange to be the one subjected to it. Instead said sister was standing beside her Father's throne looking down with an eerily similar displeased look of her own.

Her only hope for salvation was Persephone sitting in on this family meeting via Iris Message. Though since she was currently spending time with her mother, Demeter, that meant having the goddess of agriculture present too. Which was yet another thing for Alakid to worry about. Especially as it seemed to upset her Father even more.

"Do you mind?" Hades said with a glare at his sister and mother-in-law through the I.M.

"Yes," Demeter said with an antagonizing smirk.

"Shameless eavesdropper." The lord of the dead grumbled under his breath.

"What did you call me!?" The goddess of the seasons demanded angrily.

"Mother, please?" Persephone pleaded with her mother with a frown on her youthful face, before she turned to look at her husband, "Hades, do not rile her up."

"Yes, dear." The two elder gods grumbled.

The goddess of the spring sighed in exasperation at the insincere reply.

"I guess we'll have to accept that then." Persephone said. "Since we have more urgent matters to discuss at the moment."

Her stepmother turned to her and asked, "Alkaid, dear, what in Gaia's green earth were you thinking when you adopted someone as dangerous as the goddess of serial killers?"

"That's seriously a thing?" Pyrrha couldn't help but ask.

The various members of the House of Hades ignored her in lieu of exchanging heated looks at each other. Hades and Melinoe overflowed with disapproval, while Persephone was one of concern and curiousity. Alakid for her part just returned their gazes with tired exasperation.

Demeter on the other hand simply huffed, "Of course. She's part of the pop culture pantheon."

"Pop culture pantheon… learn something new everyday." The redhead boggled at the revelation.

Unable to get across her points non-verbally, Alkaid was left with no choice but to properly explain herself. "I didn't have a choice. It was either adopt her or let her kill us."

"I'm sorry, mummies! I didn't mean to." The murderous child goddess cried as she threw herself against Pyrrha for a tearful hug. "I-I was just playing!"

The teary eyed look on her face twisted Alkaid's heart, though the gods just held looks of scorn.

Reaching over, Alkaid gently rubbed her shoulder, "It's okay. We know."

"Listen, kiddo," Pyrrha said with a sigh and held the little goddess against her hip, "you can't play so rough with people, alright? People aren't as tough as you."

The ashen haired goddess nodded tearfully and buried her face further into her hip.

"Aw." Persephone said in a tone that was at once wistful and proud. "To think you would be so good at this already."

Turning to the goddess that had raised her, Alkaid blushed at the look of maternal satisfaction on the Queen of the Underworld's face. Even her mother looked pleased if the small smile on her face was any indication.

If only her Father and sister were of a similar persuasion. Instead both proved they were indeed father and daughter as they both rolled their eyes at the same time in response.

"Yes, considering you swore on the River Styx, I suppose her _adoption_ is official." Hades stapled his fingers while resting his elbows on the armrests of his throne.

"The little psycho hasn't." Melinoe spat out.

"Mummies, what is this Styx thing that you all keep talking about?" Jack the Ripper said, cocking her head to the side in adorable confusion.

"The River Styx is a sacred river that you swear promises on." Alkaid explained to her daughter.

"Like a pinky swear?"

Alkaid smiled at that but before she could reply, Pyrrha beat her to the chase. "It's even more important than pinky swears. Swearing on the Styx is the most powerful promise you can make. Break a promise like that and the Fates themselves will make your life miserable."

Jack shuddered at that for a moment, before abruptly becoming cheerful again.

"Okay! I pinky swear on the River Styx that my mummies are my mummies!" Jack happily declared.

Hades grunted as a soft rumble resounded throughout the Underworld at the oath. He looked to his wife, and nodded at her. Though he was clearly unhappy with it.

"Yes. Hazzah. _Jack_ the Ripper has joined the family…" Melinoe said sarcastically while throwing her hand into the air in frustration. "Like we needed more bad press."

"It's not like it can get worse." Persephone said encouragingly with an uneasy smile on her face.

Demeter just snorted in amusement.

"Perhaps," Hades said with a sigh of resignation. "Though I will _not_ have any granddaughter of mine be named _Jack_ the Ripper."

Alkaid smiled broadly at that. That was as good as her Father accepting her daughter as a member of the family.

"I assure you, we will be picking a new name for her."

"Jackie?" Pyrrha suggested.

Everyone shot her a 'are you for real' look. Even Jack booed at the suggestion.

"Sue me. I'm not good at names."

"It's okay mummy." Jack comforted the redhead. "I'm not good at it either."

"We'll pick a better one. I assure you." Alkaid promised.

"Are we getting more grandchildren later on?" Persephone asked Alkaid with a sly look.

The two demigoddesses looked at each and broke into brillant blushes. Turning back to her family with her face still burning, she shrugged.

Melinoe cackled like a lunatic at that. "That's a yes!"

"Yay! I'll be having brothers and sisters soon!" Jack cheered, causing her mothers to blush even more brightly.

At the sight, the ghost goddess practically doubled over as her cackling got even louder.

Demeter on the other hand looked completely disinterested, "Honestly, how long is this going to drag on for? Persephone and I would like to get back to work soon."

"Ignore my mother, Alkaid. I think it's wonderful you're starting a family." The goddess of vegetation said with a sweet smile for her stepdaughter.

"Melinoe, be silent." Hades grunted and shot a shadowbolt at the aforementioned goddess' feet.

The ghost goddess flinched and stopped laughing though she was still smirking in amusement.

Demeter nodded in approval, before stopping as she realized she was agreeing with her brother. "I can't believe I just did that."

"Oh no, the horror." Hades dryly stated. He turned his attention back towards the new family. "So, what are your plans for the future?"

The couple turned to one another and exchanged a look.

"Father, it's far too soon to tell."

"Nonsense," Persephone chided. "It's never too soon to make plans for your family."

The couple exchanged a lost look with one another as they tried to think of a proper answer.

Sighing, Hades said, "I have a few things you should take into consideration."

Alkaid gulped as she settled into the long lecture that she knew was forthcoming. Adopting her daughter was looking like a whole lot more responsibility than she had ever imagined.

* * *

A day later found the new family in one of the many pavilions in the picturesque parks that occupied much of the space within Elysium. At Hades' urging they had decided to pay Alkaid's shut-in sister, Makaria, a visit and introduce their new daughter to her.

"And that's pretty much what happened, Sister." Alkaid explained as she sipped some lemonade.

The reclusive goddess nodded, as she looked over at her niece and Pyrrha roughhousing in the grass nearby.

"And what name have you picked for her?"

"Mina." Alkaid gushed, excited to share anything and everything about her daughter. "It's German for love. We picked out a dozen or so names randomly using a name generator and then had her choose which one she liked most."

"That's sweet, I guess." The goddess said diplomatically. "So what does she call you? Or Pyrrha for that matter? You can't both go by mommy, right?"

"We settled on Mina calling me Mother and Pyrrha goes by Mama."

The goddess of blessed death nodded politely.

"We're still looking for a place to stay. I don't think Father wants Mina here for too long." Alkaid sighed.

Her Father was currently making arrangements with Lord Dionysus to give Mina some training to control herself whenever the family stopped by Camp. Being, in part, a goddess of madness, the god of wine would be the best teacher Mina could possibly have.

"I agree with Father. I don't like her here either." Makaria wrinkled her nose.

Alkaid blinked in shock. She'd honestly never seen her usually reserved sister so outwardly hostile to anyone.

"Do you know how many heroes she's sent here to Elysium in the past few centuries?"

"Um, I have no clue."

"Hundreds, Alkaid. Hundreds!" Makaria said in a harsh whisper. "I don't care if she is so tiny and adorable, and huggable, and innocent looking. I _don't like_ her."

 _And that's as mean as Makaria can get._ Alkaid thought with a surprised look on her face.

"We'll leave soon. I promise."

"You can stay, she's gotta go." Makaria told her sweetly.

Family visits had gotten much more tense it seemed.

* * *

After being shooed out of Elysium, the family had been forced to crash at Camp. It was the only place that they had access to which could accommodate the new addition to their family on short notice. It also gave Mina some time getting training with Lord Dionysus while Alkaid was at school and Pyrrha was busy helping Chiron keep the place from falling apart.

The usually grumpy god didn't even seem to mind. In fact, he enjoyed the younger goddess' company.

"She's as mad as I am. How grand." The god had told Alkaid with an honest smile on his face on their first night back.

"I'm glad she's not giving you any trouble." The sorceress had said gratefully. "Pyrrha and I can't thank you enough for agreeing to help her."

"Perish the thought. It's been such a bore here, I needed someone to have an intelligent conversation with." Mr. D said with his usual venomous grin as he eyed the handful of campers huddled around the central hearth that they could see through the windows of his office in the Big House. "Besides, it keeps her from wandering the grounds and doing her thing. As much as I'd like to see her cull some of the waste of space wannabe heroes, that'll just get me in trouble with the other gods."

Alkaid nodded with a grim look. When the Olympians had found out about the goddess' adoption, reactions had been mixed but generally neutral. None were happy however when they'd heard she'd be staying at Camp Half-Blood. Mostly because they didn't like too many gods hanging around Camp and especially ones that weren't Greek.

"I wonder if there are means to 'convert' her. Is it possible?" She asked Lord Dionysus.

"Pantheons aren't some Church. It's not a matter of just wanting something. We'd need the sheeple to change their minds about her to do that." The god explained. "Unfortunately, Jack the Ripper is too deeply entrenched as part of the pop cultural pantheon, if the rabble of misfits could be called such, to be shifted into another pantheon. That being the case, making her a Greek is pretty much impossible."

"I see." Alkaid said with a disappointed sigh. "I had expected as much."

"Trying your luck?"

The daughter of Hades nodded. "Can you fault me?"

"Certainly, but I won't." The god of wine said generously. "Your girl is lucky she managed to keep so much of her nature from when she was a mortal as is. Her sense of self must be incredibly strong, otherwise with how pop culture usually brands the Ripper as a man that's what she'd have morphed into."

Alkaid shuddered at the prospect. _Pyrrha and I are lucky that didn't happen. I can't imagine facing a god of serial killers without Mina's obsessive need for a mother to exploit. I doubt I'd have lived through an encounter like that._

Reading her thoughts, Lord Dionysus shook his head.

"You probably wouldn't have." He confirmed. "You barely did as is. You weren't the first to try the gambit you did, you know, but you you were the first to actually succeed in pulling it off. And that's all down to your oath on the Styx."

"Mina didn't even know what the Styx was." The daughter of Hades pointed out.

The god shrugged as he sipped his Diet Coke, "That doesn't really matter. She's still a _goddess_ and could no doubt sense the binding pact the Styx forged between you three. That is the _only_ reason why she stayed her hand and spared your lives."

Alkaid frowned. The realization that she and Pyrrha had lucked out on what was quite possibly the only way to have escaped death at their daughter's hands was a sobering thought. Something that reminded her of another major worry that had been gnawing at her since the adoption.

"Lord Dionysus, may I ask your advice on how to raise Mina?" Alkaid asked sincerely. "As a goddess, I imagine her needs are different."

"I don't know." The god shrugged. "I never raised a god. I do have experience about how I was raised though. It wasn't that grand. In my wild years I was so deep in my cups that once I sobered I found myself in the middle of conquering half of India. Good times."

"I see. I'm taking away from that to _not_ give her wine?"

"That and don't piss off Hera. My madness was originally a result of one of her curses." Mr. D said with a shrug. "I made it my own, so shows her. But yes, it's something to avoid. We all can't be that lucky."

"Anything else?"

Dionysus looked at her for a long moment, before continuing in a faint whisper that Alkaid struggled to hear. "I don't remember much about my foster parents King Athamas and Queen Ino. Hera killed them when I was only three, but I do remember they treated me with all the love they showered on their own children. Do the same with your daughter and she'll be fine. Eventually."

"Thank you for sharing that with me, Lord Dionysus." Alkaid said with a grateful bow.

The god just shrugged dismissively and turned away from her to head behind his office desk. "Get going, Potter. I have work to do."

"Work?" Alkaid blinked in shock. She'd never seen Mr. D do work in Camp. Ever.

"Yes, work." The god snapped, before looking her square in the eyes. "Anything to distract me from thinking about my parents."

Alkaid's eyes widened in shock. She'd known sharing his experience from his childhood had affected him greatly, but to have forced him to seek distraction in something he hated it must have been so much worse than anything she'd ever expected.

Her gratitude to the god was beyond words by this point, so she sketched him another bow and left him to his work.

* * *

It had been a week since Alkaid had gotten herself a new daughter and she was on her way to Diagon Alley, London in the latest of what she was increasingly thinking of as a 'welcome to the family' tour of introductions for Mina. This time they were here to introduce her to Alkaid's wizarding 'uncles' Sirius Black and Remus Lupin. The daughter of Hades had informed them of the new addition to her life via letter and was promptly inundated by increasingly whiny requests to meet Mina. Caving to the pressure, Alkaid had finally agreed.

 _Thank you Pyrrha for that unflattering name for what we're doing._ Alkaid thought sarcastically as she and her family portkeyed into the British capital.

Mina wasn't at all thrilled to be back in London and she held her mummies' hand tightly with a guilty look on her face.

"Just take it easy, kiddo. We won't be here long."

"Is that a promise, Mama?" Mina looked up at her with her big doe eyes.

"Sure thing." Pyrrha smirked at her, "I promise we'll be outta here fast."

Alkaid couldn't help but notice the two had connected rather quickly. It surprised the daughter of Hades that Pyrrha had such a maternal nature.

 _It's gotta come from her mom, because it definitely didn't come from Ares._ Alkaid thought as she watched the interaction between her girlfriend and their daughter. _Though since Mrs. Branwen has already worked one miracle in managing to teach Pyrrha to be so much more polite and well mannered than her siblings, I guess this isn't all that surprising._

They arrived at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour to find Sirius and Remus were already there, waiting at a table.

They quickly exchanged greetings and everyone settled into seats.

"So this is the lucky girl, huh?" Sirius asked as he looked over at Mina who pressed herself into Pyrrha's side at the attention.

"She's feeling shy." Alkaid said with a fond smile at her daughter.

"She's a beautiful child, Alkaid, Pyrrha." Remus offered kindly.

"Thank you, we're both lucky to have taken her in. Our lives have certainly changed."

"So why don't we place our orders and you all can tell us all about it?" Sirius asked with a smile. "And maybe if the little lady is up to it, she can share a little bit about herself too, that okay?

Mina seemed to consider this for a moment before nodding.

"Great. Then what does everyone want?" Sirius asked as he began checking what everyone wanted. It didn't take long for him to consolidate everything and head in to the counter to place their order.

As he rejoined the table and they waited for their order, Mina whispered to her mummies.

"Why don't we just take the ice cream?" She asked in confusion.

"Sweetie, if we stole from Mr. Fortescue he won't be able to earn the money he deserved for making such delicious ice cream. Is that the right thing to do?" Alkaid asked the little girl with a fond smile.

Mina shook her head side to side.

"Thus, we don't steal things."

"Yeah," Pyrrha nodded, "Plus, it's the right thing to do. Doing the right thing makes people good. You wanna be a good girl, right?"

"Mmhm!" Mina nodded happily, "Because I am one!"

"That you are." Alkaid said as she leaned down to kiss the crown of Mina's head affectionately.

 _We really do complement each other perfectly when it comes to dealing with Mina, don't we?_ Alkaid thought to herself as she watched Mina fuss over how she'd 'messed up' her hair and Pyrrha helped her sort it out. _I keep talking to Mina in a complicated way because I expect her as a goddess to understand while Pyrrha boils it all down into something a child like her can understand. We make a great team._

The ice cream arrived and Mina, like the adorable little glutton she was, promptly descended on her serving like a ravenous beast, much to her mothers' amusement even as Pyrrha quietly urged her to slow down and Alkaid swept her hair behind her ear to prevent it from getting dirty.

"Merlin, when did Alkaid become so maternal?" Remus said, his voice dripping with incredulity while Sirius just sat there slack jawed at the display.

"My mummies are the bestest!" Mina loudly declared in defense of the couple. Her face was covered in ice cream as she waved her spoon in the air.

"Ssh." Pyrrha told her as Alkaid chipped in as well.

"Uncle Moony here wasn't saying that we aren't doing a good job, sweetie. He's just surprised that I'm so good at being a mummy despite being so young."

Mina seemed mollified by this and went back to guzzling up her ice cream, as if it would be the only time she'd ever have it.

 _She's like a human shaped vacuum cleaner._ Alkaid thought with amused delight.

"I'm actually still surprised that you two adopted a child. When you sent us a letter telling us about it, I couldn't believe it. I'd have thought you'd be too busy with your studies to even think about something like this if I'm being honest." Sirius said as he had some of his chocolate sundae.

"Things happened." Alkaid said as she exchanged a smile with Pyrrha.

"Good things." The redhead agreed.

The two men exchanged a look of their own, though theirs was one of surprise.

"When was the wedding and how did we miss it?" Sirius asked teasingly.

"Seriously?" Alkaid frowned with red cheeks.

"That's me." The Black lord said with a smirk that had Alkaid rolling her eyes.

"As if I would have a wedding and tell no one nor make it glamorous." The daughter of Hades said, ignoring her godfather's bad sense of humor.

"My mom would kill me." Pyrrha grunted in agreement.

"I'd like to point out that neither of you said that it's out of the picture." Remus chimed in, sounding amused.

The couple blushed brilliantly at the observation.

Her cheeks growing darker, Alkaid cleared her throat, "We're just sorting things out right now."

"So a ceremony's on the cards in the future?"

"No! Just stop asking!" Alkaid nearly screamed as her face became a stellar pink.

"Can I be the flower girl?" Mina asked suddenly, looking between her mothers with a pleading look.

"Sure." Pyrrha grumbled as her cheeks matched her hair.

The daughter of Hades just covered her face with one of her hands.

"Mina, sweetheart, I um, the thing is-"

"Looks like even your daughter wants a wedding." Sirius added with a maddening smirk on his face.

"Some day, okay? Just not any time soon. We're kinda not there yet." Alkaid conceded with resignation.

Pyrrha just nodded in agreement.

"Aw, okay! I want a pretty dress though. With ribbons!" The little goddess said with a pout.

"Yes, of course." Alkaid hastily agreed just so she could change the subject as quickly as possible.

"You'll look great." Sirius told the little girl. "A pretty girl like you? You'll be like a princess."

"Really?" The little goddess' eyes sparkled as she thought about the prospect. Clearly she was awed and enamoured with the idea.

 _Great. Now she'll want a especially fancy dress for the occasion._ Alkaid realized as she suppressed the urge to groan at the very prospect. Her daughter was high maintenance as it was but this just looked like it was going to be even more over the top.

"Completely." Remus told the child with a honest smile. "You are absolutely lovely."

"Hee-heh!" Mina giggled excitedly into her hands.

Turning to look at Alkaid, the werewolf continued. "She's been good for you too. You seem to be glowing now."

The brunette bristled slightly at this, seeing it as once more proof that despite her accomplishments she wasn't meeting his expectations of her. He had always disapproved of her focus on politics and business and what he saw as her neglect for more 'normal' things like starting a family

 _Whatever, you're just a tag along after all. And a hypocrite to boot!_ Alkaid noted with a roll of her eyes. _You're so bigoted even when at the same time you so often decry the discrimination you face for being a werewolf._

"How's this for an idea? Why don't we take the lass here shopping?" Sirius asked as he finished his ice cream. "It'll give us the chance to get to know her better."

Her godfather's suggestion shook Alkaid out of her uncharitable thoughts about Lupin and she turned to her girlfriend for her opinion on the matter.

"Sounds good. She could use more clothes." Pyrrha said with a nod.

"I'll look pretty?" Mina asked with her eyes large and hopeful.

"Always." Alkaid assured her, she was a goddess and should always be radiant. As her mother, the daughter of Hades would make sure of that.

* * *

A month later, the new family had settled into a mansion in the California wine district that Alkaid had dipped into her savings to purchase. It had cost a small fortune, but the daughter of Hades felt it was more than worth it especially since it came with a full staff of house elves that took care of all their needs. Mina especially appreciated having the little servants around, mainly because she enjoyed chasing them around and playing with them.

Having the house where it was made commuting back and forth between school and Camp somewhat troublesome but magic made things reasonable, even if the bill for Floo powder was becoming something of a pain. Still, for a stable home life, it was a small price to pay.

All that bonding time had allowed Alkaid and Pyrrha to build a good rapport with their young goddess of a daughter. Even if the demigods were busy with their responsibilities at college and Camp while Mina herself was busy with her training with Mr. D, the family had still spent plenty of time getting to know each other. They had dinner together and family time every night, and made time every weekend to take trips to various sites. Through this Alkaid had learned so much about her daughter.

 _She's an adorable bundle of contradictions. She's fearless in the face of blood and gore, even raveling at the sight of it, but yet is terrified of bugs._ Alkaid mused with a giggle as she recalled the girl running away in abject terror when she'd spotted a spider in the tub just yesterday.

Having made the finishing touches to her make up for her evening at the Ministry of Magic's ball she and Pyrrha were attending that night, the daughter of Hades put away her cosmetics and stepped out of the bathroom to see her daughter gushing over Pyrrha's dress.

"Mama, it's so pretty!" The little girl said enthusiastically as she admired the bright red halter top dress while playing with the sleeves that puffed up midway down her forearm.

"It's not that great." Pyrrha said sounding embarrassed. She wasn't one to normally dress up. Which was a shame, because she pulled off the formal look rather nicely.

Alkaid was certainly an admirer.

"I'm gonna have to agree with Mina here." Alkaid said as she walked over. "The dress is lovely and it makes you look absolutely stunning."

Pyrrha blushed at the compliment and turned to face her only to stop short as she caught sight of Alkaid's outfit.

"Mother looks pretty too!" Mina clapped her hands loudly as she ooh'd and ah'd.

Alkaid smiled in satisfaction as Pyrrha's eyes trailed the deep cleavage v-neck of the black and gold floor length gown that she'd chosen for the night.

Spinning around, Alkaid winked at her daughter, "Of course. Your mother is always a knockout. Mama knows that, right, my love?"

Fluttering her lashes at the redhead, a tongue-tied Pyrrha stammered out her agreement.

Mina looked between her mothers with a knowing look and smiled mischievously.

"Mama and Mother are going to be loud again tonight, aren't you? Mama has that look."

Smirking, Alkaid replied. "I certainly hope so. We have to practice if want we to give you siblings after all."

Pyrrha just groaned. "Do you two have to be so open about it? Thanks to you two our sex life is the talk of Camp, you know that right?"

Mina just blinked in innocent confusion and mouthed the word 'sex' to herself, while Alkaid just lifted her chin proudly in the air. "Let them talk. They can never hope to touch this."

"Mother, what's sex?"

"It's something we'll teach you about when you're older." Alkaid replied easily.

"But I am a grown up!" Mina whined and pouted.

"Not in godly years, sweetie."

Mina just pouted even more adorably and Alkaid had to fight the urge to coo at her.

Pyrrha was apparently made of sterner stuff and managed to keep her cool. "Don't worry, we'll teach all about it when you're ready. Just not now, okay?"

"Yay! I want to sound like Mother! She's always screaming so happily when you get loud."

It seemed the tables had turned and it was now Alkaid's turn to be all embarrassed by their daughter's childish frankness. While not upset at the idea of their sex life becoming gossip, she didn't exactly appreciate everything her loose lipped little girl said about it. In particular, she was unsettled by gaining the reputation of being a screamer.

It made Alkaid just want to crawl into a hole when she first found out. From _Chiron_ no less!

He was surprisingly nonplussed about the whole thing, though he did ask Alkaid to keep her volume down if they ever decided to get it on in Camp.

It was the rest of the reactions that the daughter of Hades could do without.

Lord Dionysus had been so amused by it that he chuckled every time he saw her for a whole week. Then there were the Campers! The dozens of hormonal teenagers had either been amused, scandalized, or worst of all wanted to know more.

What irked Alkaid the most was how Pyrrha could simply shrug it off. Oh sure, she was embarrassed about the whole people talking about their sex life thing but when it came to the bit about Alkaid being, as Connor Stoll put it, 'the loud one in the relationship' she was just fine with it. Heck, she was even proud!

Mina could be the sweetest child most of the time though, so it made up for the mild embarrassment she brought forth. She always went out of the way to show her mothers how much she loved them. Proof of this came in the form of Alecto popping her head through the bedroom door with a reminder for the little girl.

"Miss Mina, the timer just went off on the oven." The Fury told the girl.

"Oh!" The tiny goddess said with a smile as she skipped towards the door. "The cookies are done!"

"You're baking again?"

"Uh-huh." The girl said while bobbing her head. "I put my heart into them mummies. You'll try them when you come home?"

"Of course." Alkaid assured the girl. "Go get them out of the oven before they burn or they won't taste good."

Not that it was likely to happen. Their little goddess was a fantastic baker, much to the couple's shock. Her cookies were to die for.

"'Kay." Mina said before scampering off.

The three women watched the girl go with fond smiles on their faces.

"She's a wonder." Alecto commented. "You're truly blessed by the Fates to have her in your life, Little Lady."

"Thank you for watching her Alecto." Alkaid said in appreciation, ignoring the snub to Pyrrha with the ease of long practice.

Said lover just sighed but made no protest, instead choosing to trail after their daughter and give the daughter of Hades some time alone with her old nanny.

"Nonsense, just as I watched you, I shall watch over her." The Fury said earnestly. "It was a pleasure then and it is now as well."

"Now I wonder what Kaidy was like as a kid." Pyrrha chuckled from further down the hall as Alecto smirked.

"Quite rambunctious if I remember correctly." The Fury said teasingly. "But enough talk, how long are you going to tarry, Alkaid? If you don't leave soon, you'll be late."

"Yes, yes." Alkaid said, trying not to roll her eyes at the chastisement while walking past the older woman to catch up with her lover.

The daughter of Hades found Pyrrha in the kitchen giving Mina a hug goodbye and walked over to the girl.

"Be good for Auntie Alecto, alright?" Alkaid reminded her daughter as she kissed her on the forehead.

"Okay!"

At the cheerful reply, Alkaid smiled and ruffled her silvery locks.

"Enjoy the ball, Mistresses." Cappy, their head house elf said as he popped in and handed the portkey that was their means of transportation to the Ministry ball over to Pyrrha.

"We will." Alkaid assured the servant even as she took a hold of the length of rope that she'd enchanted.

She was just in time for the clock to strike the appointed hour for the portkey's magic to take effect. Her hand had just touched the rope when with the feeling of a hook behind her navel, she and Pyrrha were whisked thousands of miles across the Atlantic Ocean.

* * *

The ball that the demigoddess couple were attending had been organised by the British Ministry of Magic to celebrate their recent signing of a major trade deal with the muggle British government. As such it was not surprising to them to see a number of muggles attending the event and that there was a equal mix of both wizarding and muggle music being played.

Considering that both Alkaid and Pyrrha had the opinion that wizarding music generally amounted to little more than awful white noise, the latter fact was truly a blessing.

It had turned what they'd feared would have been a drudgery into something somewhat pleasant. A boon which they made full use of as the two danced along with others to the classical muggle music. Alkaid leading them through a dance of twirls and steps.

After the dance and the music changed back into Wizarding tunes, the couple joined the flood of guests escaping the dance floor and headed off to get some drinks. As they did so, they were greeted by an old friend.

"Lady Potter, Pyrrha," Blaise Zabini greeted them with a smile and offered each of them a cup of punch.

"Man, I forgot you had a manservant." Pyrrha grinned, "Sup Zabini? Doing good?"

"Thank you, Blaise." Alkaid offered her friend kindly, even as she idly swatted her girlfriend on the arm for the tease.

The redhead rubbed her arm with a pout.

"I'm doing well." Blaise said as he pulled out a folder, "We have some results for that affair you asked us to look into. We haven't found anything so far, but there are still plenty of suspicious activity for us to look into."

Pyrrha shot Alkaid a questioning eyebrow.

"Just checking a long shot to see if Luke is using the crossroads to move some funds."

"You think he'd do it?"

"No, but some of his patrons might."

Blaise nodded. "There are several Titans such as Ocean and Sun with followings in the Wizarding World, it is entirely possible that they would make use of them."

Pyrrha looked disgruntled at this.

"Fret not, if we can follow the trail, we can snip their economy in the bud."

"Yeah, I think I'll leave this up to you." Pyrrha said with a shake of her head. "As much as I'd like to get back at Castellan, this isn't exactly what I had in mind or what I'm good at doing."

Alkaid smiled at her, one that promised she'd get the chance to crack some skulls later on. For now, it was her skill at business that was getting the chance to shine.

"Alright then, I think I'll leave you two to your plotting." Pyrrha said with a teasing smile before turning to Blaise. "Who's here today? I'll go mingle while you two get things done."

"Most of the old clique are here tonight." Blaise informed the redhead. "I just saw Susan and Hannah catching up on the other side of the ballroom. You might want to start there."

With a thankful nod to the man and a cheerful wave to her lover, Pyrrha sauntered off to find their old friends.

Alkaid watched her go with a tinge of longing. She sorely wanted to catch up with her old schoolmates too. Nevertheless she ruthlessly smothered the feeling. She had business to handle.

"I want most of our resources on trying to track the Titans' monies, Blaise. Any support they have must be severed ASAP."

"Understood, My Lady."

"Good." Alkaid said with a nod. "Now as for the other special project I asked you to do for me."

"The paperwork is complete and uncontestable. To the Wizarding World, the young miss is legally your daughter." Blaise informed her.

Alkaid offered him a radiant smile, "How are they buying the cover story?"

"The Wizarding World believes, as we intended, that you adopted Miss Mina after discovering her magical talent. The muggles though-"

"How are they even involved in this?"

"They have been monitoring the Ministry quite closely lately and apparently came across the paperwork. MI5 sent me a missive saying that it was, and I quote, 'a nice cover story for the wizards but that we aren't as blind.' It then went on to express their thanks for 'dealing with the problem.' I'm honestly not entirely sure what to make of it."

"Of course they would know the truth." The daughter of Hades wrinkled her nose. "I wonder when they'll use it against me. That woman must be biting at the bit."

"Perhaps if you filled me in on the details, I could help keep them in check." The man offered while carefully hinting his displeasure at being kept out of the loop.

"Apologies about that, Blaise." Alkaid said genuinely. "I promise to tell you everything. But not here. I've been busy lately, but I'll be sure to arrange something soon so I can properly brief you."

"Of course, Lady Potter."

"Now that the heavy stuff is out of the way, how are things going with our friends?" The daughter of Hades asked with a light hearted smile.

Following her lead, the Italian wizard relaxed and offered a roguish grin as he replied. "Things are good. Astoria and Gabby have taken over as leaders of the clique at Hogwarts."

"Isn't Gabby only a Second Year?" Alkaid gasped.

Blaise just nodded. "Yes. While she's not you, she's still got a phenomenal amount of charisma. Plus she's teamed up with Astoria who as a Sixth Year and a Greengrass has enough clout to keep even the older members in line."

"A good alliance." The sorceress noted with approval.

"Agreed. It is a good sign of their political acumen."

"Anything else?"

"They've managed to build on and expand the influence we built. They are the most influential group in the school at the moment."

Alkaid hummed, impressed. "So how are our old classmates doing?"

"Apparently they're organizing themselves into a political party." Blaise said with an amused smirk.

"The Wizarding World does not have political parties," The daughter of the Rich One pointed out.

"Agreed, thus why it was so innovative of them."

"And what are they advocating?"

Blaise hummed and said, "They are focusing on education reforms and greater integration with muggles."

"I approve." Alkaid said with a nod. "Give me a more detailed briefing at a later date."

"Of course, My Lady. Though speaking of our old classmates. Do you remember Hermione Granger?"

Alkaid's smile became strained, "Hard to forget."

Blaise looked uncomfortable, "You see, Granger has been working with the Ministry. Though brilliant because of her blood status and poor showing at her interviews, she apparently offended the purebloods on the panel, she was given a joke position at the Centaur Liaison Office. It's basically a job where she wasn't expected to do any actual work, but being the overachiever she is, she decided to visit one of the centaur tribes. Supposedly to help advocate for their rights in the Wizarding World. And she just disappeared."

Frowning, Alkaid asked, "Have they taken her?"

Her loyal butler shrugged his shoulders, "Most likely."

"Have rescue attempts been made? Surely the Ministry won't just abandon her."

"They have launched a search and have been making inquiries, but have been making no progress." Blaise said with a frown. "If the centaurs did take her though, it's unlikely she'll ever be found. Precious few abductees ever are."

Frowning, Alkaid nodded in understanding. She had a run in with a few despicable centaurs and had seen first hand what they could do. It hurt to know how Hermione would suffer a fate similar to those poor Amazons and may never return. Despite their falling out, she still cared for the girl.

 _I should look into it. I might be able to save her if we can find out her last location._

"Thanks for the update, Blaise." Alkaid offered her friend with a grateful smile. "But I think it's time I go rub elbows with some of the Ministry and muggle officials."

"Best of luck, My Lady." Blaise said while offering her a jaunty wave.

Alkaid strolled around the room, greeting and exchanging pleasantries with a few people. She was soon interrupted by a familiar voice.

"Ah! Madam Alkaid!" An excited accented voice called out. Turning towards its source, the daughter of Hades spotted an angelic and bubbly blonde girl prancing over to her.

In a glamorous blue ball gown, Gabrielle smiled like the little fairy she was. Next to her in a sublime purple dress was Astoria. Seeing how grown up she looked, Alkaid's throat tightened at how much she resembled her older sister.

A small part of her missed Daphne. After all, you could hardly forget your first love. And while she adored Pyrrha as her one and true love, Daphne was still a sore spot in her heart.

"Madam, you look most radiant in that gown. It has been ever so long since we've seen one another. May I ask for a dance?"

"So excitable, Gabby!" Astoria giggled into her gloved hands. "How about conversing with Miss Alkaid first? Like a proper lady."

The half-veela flushed brightly and looked at her crystal slippers.

Alkaid smiled sweetly at the excitable girl. "Now now, Astoria, Gabby is no doubt excited to see me. Still, a dance isn't something I would deny a sweet fairy such as you, my dear."

The French girl looked up at her in awe and blushed like a smitten maiden.

 _Gods she is such a sweetheart, just like Mina. I wonder if I should arrange a playdate? Mina could use some mortal friends._ Alkaid held out her hand and Gabby accepted it as dantily as she could.

Going onto the dance floor, Alkaid took the lead as she led them through a dance. The French girl seemed too overcome by the experience to do much more than blush. As they twirled around the dance floor, the sorceress spotted Pyrrha looking at them with annoyance even as she chatted with Susan and Hannah.

Shooting her lover a amused smile at her jealousy, Alkaid spun them back towards Astoria as the song ended and with a curtsy they stepped apart. Turning to Astoria, the demigoddess graciously offered her the next dance.

Smiling demurely she accepted, but not before shooting Gabby a teasing look that had the French girl pouting adorably.

As they two entered the dance floor, Alkaid smiled at Astoria.

"Tell me, how are things at Hogwarts? I have heard you two have taken over the old clique."

Astoria smiled, "You set the foundation, Gabby and I are simply adding on to it. We've grown a lot, we have roughly a hundred members now."

"That's impressive." Alkaid acknowledged. "Blaise also mentioned that we've become the most influential group in the school?"

"Hehe, hard not to when we have a lot of talented students in the clique. We've been following your example and grooming them while fostering inter-house unity."

As they twirled, Alkaid laughed gently, "I'm pleased then. Grooming young talent and keeping the inter-house unity will greatly benefit everyone in the long term."

"A flowery speech as always, I think I miss that the most. You just led the clique so effortlessly, I don't know how you did it."

Alkaid smiled in reply, saying nothing. She'd watched her Father manage the Underworld for as long as she could remember, so the brunette beauty had just followed his example.

The song ended and Alkaid returned Astoria to Gabby, who the former asked for a dance of her own. The two young girls giggled as they returned to the floor, Astoria teasing Gabby all the while about how she had been whining about how much she'd missed Alkaid but when given the chance to talk to her had been so tongue tied that she'd practically been mute throughout their whole dance.

The daughter of Hades stood there watching them as she was joined by Pyrrha.

"They're cute." The redhead observed as she pulled her lover close. "With all that ribbing, they must be pretty good friends."

"Hm, just look how _closely_ they are dancing though." Alkaid pointed out as Pyrrha's arms wrapped around her stomach.

Pyrrha rolled her eyes, "Not everyone is a lesbian, Kaidy. Though the baby French chick wouldn't mind jumping your bones."

"True, they aren't, but as part Veela, Gabby is at least bisexual, much like myself."

"And Astoria?" The redhead asked, snuggling her closer.

Alkaid shrugged in reply, "I might be wrong, but I do love speculating."

"Great, you might as well plot with Cabin Ten to play matchmaker."

Patting her lover's hands, getting her to let go, Alkaid turned to face her directly so her emerald eyes could look directly into her lover's.

"I'll just let nature take its course for this one. Who knows, I could be wrong and they are just good friends."

"Might be," Pyrrha nodded, "from what I heard from Daphne, her sister's got a thing for Malfoy of all people. Talk about downgrading."

 _Daphne's here? And Pyrrha talked to her?!_ Alkaid looked mildly alarmed and Pyrrha rolled her eyes.

"Relax. She's still upset with you, but not as bad as she used to be. Hear she's been a bachelorette for a while, must be still keeping to her high standards while looking for someone like you."

"I...I see."

Pyrrha leaned forward and pecked her on the cheek.

"Don't worry about it. You've got me and Mina, right?"

Alkaid's pale cheeks dusted pink as she smiled.

"Yes. I know."

Alkaid and Pyrrha's moment was interrupted as Sirius stepped off the dance floor and spotted them. He quickly excused himself from his dance partner, a pretty blonde that Alkaid vaguely remembered being a Ravenclaw that had been a year or two ahead of her at Hogwarts.

"Alkaid, Pyrrha, fancy seeing you two here." Sirius said as he walked towards the couple.

"We did mention we'd be attending when we met up last month." Alkaid pointed out with a sigh.

"Did you? I don't recall." The man said with that ever present humor of his.

"We definitely did." Pyrrha shot back. "Is your memory starting to fail you already, old man?"

"Old!? I'm not old!" Sirius replied theatrically, even going as far as to grasp his hand over his heart in shock.

Alkaid rolled her eyes at the display, though Pyrrha giggled.

"Good to see you, Snuffles." Pyrrha teased, using the childish nickname that Lupin had introduced them to. One that the Animagus had apparently been gifted when he'd used his animal form to entertain a group of neighborhood children back at Grimmauld Place.

"Must you? Honestly?"

"Ain't my fault you make yourself so easy." Pyrrha shrugged with a cocky grin.

"And ignoring you for now. So! Alkaid, where's Mina?"

"Hello, Sirius. We didn't think that she's ready for something quite like this yet." Alkaid said with a smile as she gestured towards the elaborate event that was going on around them.

"Aw, a shame then. Hopefully next time." The man frowned but soon smiled again, "How about a dance with this stud dog."

Alkaid just slapped him on the arm in exasperation. "Oh stop being such a wannabe comedian. You're not as funny as you think you are."

"So no dance?"

Rolling her eyes, as she always ended up doing whenever she interacted with her godfather, Alkaid obliged. "I would be delighted."

"Thank you, my fair lady."

Moving onto the dance floor, the two settled into a slow pace to match the tempo of the song being played.

"I'm incredibly proud of you, you know that right?" Sirius said with a genuine smile.

Alkaid nodded, touched.

"I am a little sad that you're been so busy lately though. I'm feeling neglected." The man continued, with a frown though the humor dancing in his eyes gave him away.

The daughter of Hades rolled her eyes _again_ and squeezed her hand on Sirius' arm in annoyance.

"I have been sending you those monthly letters you were so insistent on."

"It's still only once a month." Sirius said with a pout.

Shaking her head in a mixture of exasperation, amusement and frustration at her godfather's behavior.

"I write a lot more than many young adults do to their crazy uncles."

The wizard chuckled, "That's very true. Glad I'm the crazy one though. Still, a few extra visits couldn't hurt."

Flashing a small smile at him, she said, "I'll try, but no promises."

"I'll take it."

"Now about you finally getting a wife…"

"Hey, hey! I'm too free spirited to be tied down." Sirius brushed off the notion immediately.

Quirking her lip, Alkaid wordlessly promised to bring the topic up again. For now though, she might as well throw him a bone. She'd had her fun.

"So I've heard that my friends are starting up their own political party, know anything about it?"

"I might have talked to a couple of them about it." Sirius hedged.

 _If he is aware of it at all, then I doubt that's all he's done._

"And you didn't donate any money to the cause?" Alkaid asked through narrowed eyes.

"Maybe just a little?" The Wizengamot lord said with a shrug. "I do agree with a lot of their goals. I dunno about this 'party' thing or some of their pro-muggle stuff, but as a whole they have my vote."

"You're not just saying that, right?" Alkaid asked suspiciously.

"'Course not." Sirius scoffed. "I'm not stupid enough to think of currying favour with you through your friends. Not only would that offend you, it would have pissed them off too. I might act like it at times, but I'm no fool."

Alkaid nodded in approval. "Just checking."

They spent the rest of the dance chatting about lighter topics. Mainly ribbing on Remus for what even Sirius felt was his 'stick-in-the-mud' attitude to life.

They were thus in a good mood as they parted. Though on Sirius' part that might have a lot to do with the pretty blonde from earlier asking him for another dance. From the lust radiating off the two of them, Alkaid really hoped one of them remembered to use contraceptives. She'd had more than enough surprise additions to the family in the last few months already. Thank you very much.

These thoughts were blasted out of her mind however as she spotted Pyrrha nervously conversing with the Sorceress Supreme.

As shocking as that was, what really stopped Alkaid from entering the conversation was the sheer beauty of the dress that Sakura was wearing. It was a ivory floor length dress with a slight train and a band at the waist that served as a belt which emphasized the powerful magician's hourglass figure and modest bust. The outfit was completed by a over robe that was covered in designs that along with its flowing sleeves made it reminiscent of a kimono. Altogether the fusion style dress made the light brown haired woman with her beautiful natural mix of caucasian and Japanese features look even more of a embodiment of the combination of East and West than she usually was.

"Lady Sakura, a pleasure to see you once again." Alkaid bowed her head respectfully and walked up to stand next to Pyrrha. Her lover looked relieved with her by her side as the smaller woman looked up at the two.

"Alkaid, it's been forever." She smiled kindly at the duo, "I was just talking to Pyrrha here. She's a sweetheart."

"She says that about everyone." A animated stuffed toy with yellow-orange fur, big ears, and small, white wings said as it floated over to the group, a slice of cake thrice its size floating beside it.

"Kero-chan, please. At least show some dignity here."

"It's not like anyone can see me. My wonderful and brilliant Mistress had the foresight to cast invisibility and "notice-me-not" charms on me after all." The creature singsonged before literally diving into the cake and starting to devour it.

Sakura just sighed in exasperation.

"And there are plenty of people here who can see past that. Or did you forget Lady Williams?"

Alkaid filed away the fact that Morgan was apparently here and hadn't come to cause her any trouble. Hopefully that meant she had stopped wanting to make her life miserable.

"I do not recall the event in question." The creature said as it stuck its cake covered face out of its treat to retort.

Its mistress just groaned.

"If you ever find yourself ever needing a magical guardian, make sure they know how to properly behave, girls."

"He's your familiar?"

"Yes." "Yup!"

The pair responded in sync.

"Your dress is lovely, Alkaid." Sakura complimented, trying to move the conversation away from her familiar's antics.

"Thank you, My Lady. But it pales in comparison to your own. May I know who designed it?"

The woman flushed a bit, though the shy smile she wore spoke volumes.

"Tomoyo! My Mistress' mistress!" The stuffed toy familiar announced cheerfully, and dare she say it, proudly.

"Kero-chan!" The Sorceress Supreme hissed, her face red with embarrassment.

"You're having an affair?" Pyrrha blurted out, her shock overcoming her sense of caution towards the Greatest Magician Alive.

Alkaid held her hand over Pyrrha's mouth, worried she might have offended the very powerful sorceress. Though she too was surprised someone like Sakura would do that.

"I-It's not like that. It's, uh, what did Tomoyo-chan call it? Kero-chan help me out."

"Polyamory." The familiar said helpfully. "My Mistress is in a polyamorous relationship with her husband and her mistress."

"...That's hot." Alkaid muttered. Quickly, she covered her own mouth. Apparently she could not trust her _own_ voice either.

"That's what Syaoran-kun said." Sakura said with a defeated sigh. "It's what everyone ever says."

"The brat only said that after Tomoyo promised to share the tapes she makes of you two going at it like rabbits." Kero said with a teasing smirk that had its mistress blushing radiantly.

"I'm sorry?"

"Don't be, only she complains about it." The plush shook his head.

"B-Because it's not proper!"

"Yeah, yeah, don't you have something to tell them about besides your amazing love life?"

Sakura swatted at her familiar who deftly flew out of the way, still buried in his half eaten sugary treat. Unfortunately for him, his mistress wasn't intent on letting him off that easily and had in the same gesture unleashed some of her other familiars to punish their counterpart. A small bird like creature with a fish-like tail, thin wings and a long tuft of hair sprouting from its little round head and a pair of small cogs on its upper body as well as a a pair of falcon sized birds made of fire and water respectively with a crown that hovered over their heads chased after him. In the face of that, the stuffed animal fled in his confectionary chariot as his fellows chased after him.

"...What a lively display." The daughter of Hades uneasily commented.

"Hmph, that should keep him occupied. Now, let's never talk about that ever again. Understood, girls?" Sakura puffed out her cheeks and did her best to look stern.

"Yes ma'am!"

Sighing in relief, Sakura quickly schooled her features into a serious cast before addressing the couple.

"I've have some bad news. There's a rogue arcanist here in London, one that the local groups have been unable to handle. I was hoping I could ask you two to deal with him."

"And why not yourself? Surely you could end this individual with ease."

The Sorceress Supreme frowned, "Sadly, there are jurisdictional issues. Red tape sure can be a pain. Being the granddaughter of Clow Reed doesn't help. The Crown still hasn't forgotten how he's the product of his father cheating on a princess with a Chinese sorceress."

"You have a complicated family history, My Lady." Pyrrha observed.

Sakura shrugged and gestured at Alkaid. "It seems to be the norm for powerful magicians. The mixing of magical bloodlines in unorthodox ways seems to tend towards brilliance. Isn't Alkaid herself not a child of a god and a descendant of the fae?"

The brunette blinked in surprise. She hadn't known that Lily Potter had fae blood.

"My mother was part fae?"

"She was at least eight generations removed from her, but her ancestor was one of the line of Titania herself." Sakura confirmed.

"...Then why does that crazy fae woman harass you so much?" Pyrrha asked in bewilderment.

"Fae don't care about non-fae relations." Alkaid explained. "That said, how did my mother not know."

"Fae blood is fickle." Sakura said soothingly. "Even changelings, first generation hybrids, tend to only get a smidgen of their magic. Over the generations it is likely that your mother's family completely lost its magic until by some quirk of genetics it reawoke in your mother. Though it does tends to lead to quite impressive results when that does happen."

Alkaid nodded as she processed the information. It took a moment, but she eventually collected herself and turned her attention to the matter at hand.

"As for your task, may we ask for more details?"

"Of course. From what I've heard, the arcanist in question has been using his magic to turn people into mindless pleasure dolls for sale on the black market. From what was uncovered, he shatters their minds and strips away their memories to make them malleable. It's atrocious!" The Japanese woman fumed as if she wished to go take this monster down right now.

Pyrrha growled, equally furious. Alkaid herself was also incensed but she kept her cool, and pressed for more information.

"Do we have any clues?"

"Unfortunately not. The man is indiscriminate in who he targets. Men, women, even children and he has been known to operate throughout the city. As a result, we have not even been able to build a profile of his victims and narrow down his base of operations using that." Sakura informed them regretfully.

"Though he has been known to capture specific targets upon request. The local magicians considered exploiting that, but-" The sorceress trailed off, looking if possible even more furious.

"You didn't want to put anyone at risk?"

Sakura nodded. "There were volunteers, but I couldn't allow it."

Both demigoddesses nodded sympathetically. They wouldn't stand for anyone risking a fate like that either.

"We'll get it done. I assure you." Alkaid told the Sorceress Supreme with confidence, while Pyrrha gave her own determined nod.

"May hitsuzen be with you then." The Japanese woman said as she gave them both a respectful bow.

* * *

 **Omake: Little Goddess Fashion Show**

"I wanna go!" Mina whined as she rolled around on Alkaid and Pyrrha's bed.

The couple had been looking over the selection of dresses that they'd had to choose from for the upcoming Ministry ball and had decided to bring their new daughter into the process as a bit of family bonding. Only now it seemed to have backfired terribly.

"Mina, darling, acting like this just shows how you are not ready to come with mummies during an event." Alkaid told her sternly.

"Mina is a good girl! I want to go!" The childish goddess complained and banged her fists against a pillow. Obliterating it in the process.

"Can you promise, and be truthful, that you'll be able to be in a large crowd and not try to kill anyone?"

"I wouldn't, Mother! I promise." Mina said before pouting while biting her lower lip.

"Mina, kiddo, you bite your lip when you're lying. It's not nice to lie to us."

The ashen haired girl gasped and covered her mouth. Her green-yellow eyes glared adorably at her Mama.

Sighing, Alkaid knelt down to her level and brushed at her loose locks. "How about this? Mother promises to buy you some fancy dresses to dress up in. So when you're ready for the next party, you can come with us."

Mina nodded with a pout on her face, "At least I get to play dress up."

* * *

A few days later, a whole new wardrobe had arrived from mail order for Mina and now her mothers were sitting in her room to let her show off her new purchases.

Smiling brilliantly, Mina stepped out of her bathroom dressed in a new pearl pink A-line ball gown, complete with floor length court train and flower ruching that her Mother had bought for her.

Alkaid clapped enthusiastically as the little goddess twirled around the room, all while smiling brilliantly. Meanwhile, Pyrrha was busy snapping away at a digital camera.

Mina was a whirlwind of bubbly laughter as she spun around in her fancy new clothes.

"This is great mummies! I've seen lots of ladies in fancy dresses, but I never thought I'd get to wear one! Haha, this is fun! I'm a princess!"

"Well, since you are my daughter and I'm a Princess of the Underworld, you technically are too." Alkaid politely clapped as she watched her daughter stop and look at her in shock.

"I-I am?"

"Of course."

Tears welled in the goddess eyes as she ran up to Alkaid and pulled her into a tight hug.

Smiling pleasantly, Pyrrha snapped a picture of the heartwarming scene.

 _Those dresses cost a fortune, but this makes it worth it._ Alkaid thought to herself as she hugged her daughter even more tightly. Exchanging a look with Pyrrha, she knew they were in total agreement.

* * *

 **And done, thanks to the team of Nameless and Axios as always.**

 **Man, what a chapter. Am I right guys? I mean, murder lolis, danger, cake! It was all there, no?**

 **Nameless: So this chapter is something of a filler to see how our heroines react to suddenly becoming mothers. Of the goddess of serial killers no less! We tacked on the ball scene at the end to catch people up on the Harry Potter side of things, which will sporadically make appearances in the story from now onwards. Sorry for those of you who want us to give it more focus but for the most part Alkaid has moved past that part of her life and the story is reflecting that.**

 **And yes, Sakura is back with her Clear Cards...which we hate but we won't get into that. Not here anyway. And yes, Tomoyo is Sakura's mistress, I mean come on guys...she's Sakura-sexual and I doubt Syaoran would argue against it. There, that's said and done.**

 **Nameless: Syaoran is kinda whipped in every incarnation of the CLAMPverse as far as I can tell. Sure, he'd keep secrets from her and what not, but he seems to be willing to do** _ **anything**_ **for Sakura's sake. So what's letting her keep a lesbian lover on the side?**

 **SxT, SxT!**

 **So Alkaid actually has fae blood in her, we thought it would be some nice lore fluff and help explain her magical power level.**

 **Nameless: As for the mission Sakura sent the girls on? Well, I won't deny its more filler but it's filler with purpose. It establishes the precedent of Alkaid and Pyrrha doing missions for Sakura which is pertinent later in the story.**

 **You know what to do! Smash that review button and tell us what you love! No flames and peace off my peeps.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson or Harry Potter.**

 **Consul of the Underworld: Grinding Phase**

 **Chapter Seven: The Dollhouse of Horrors**

 **Beta: ShadowofAxios**

* * *

"Alecto, are you sure it's okay for you babysit for us again?" Alkaid asked her old nanny worriedly. "Father doesn't need you?"

"Worry not Little Lady, your Father was most accommodating when I told him I was going to help look after the young miss." The Fury reassured the daughter of Hades.

Pyrrha's disbelieving snort had them both turning to watch the redhead walk over towards them hand in hand with a skipping Mina.

Seeing that she had their attention, the goddess of serial killers let go of her Mama's hand and sprinted towards Alecto before tackle hugging the older goddess. If not for the Fury's own divine nature and strength, the force of the blow would have at least bowled her over or quite possibly seriously injured her, instead all it did was cause her to stumble back a few steps.

"Auntie Alecto!" The silver haired goddess cheered. "Thanks for babysitting me again! We're gonna have _so_ much fun. You'll teach me all about Phalaris' Brazen Bull and how to set one up like you promised last time, right?"

"Aw, isn't that sweet?" Alkaid cooed, "I didn't learn that until I was eleven."

"Wait, the Brazen Bull? Isn't that a torture device?" Pyrrha asked looking unnerved.

"Yes, and one of my favorites." Alkaid smiled brightly at her lover.

"Why in the Pit is Mina learning about torture devices?"

"Why not?" The daughter of Hades said in confusion. "She is my daughter and a member of the House of Hades. She's going to have to learn these things sooner or later."

The daughter of Ares looked between the others in the living room with their looks of genuine confusion and just shook her head in exasperation.

"Nope. Nope, not touching that." The child of war said still shaking her head. "Why am _I_ , the bloodthirsty berserker, the normal one in this family?"

"There, there, Mama." Mina said coming over to pat her arm comfortingly. "Normal is overrated."

"Love you too, ya rascal."

"Now then, have her in bed by nine or she gets cranky." Alkaid told Alecto kindly, "And no soda please. She might go out and murder someone when she's all hyper."

"Not the first scamp I've watched over, Little Lady." The Fury said, looking at her dryly.

"Just reiterating is all, Nanny." The tall brunette smiled sheepishly as she put her Grimoire under her arm, "Well, we're off. Mina, be good!"

"Mmhm!" The goddess nodded quickly and hugged her mummies goodbye.

With that, Alkaid pulled out the portkey she had prepared earlier - a broken coffee mug that Mina had dug up while digging in the yard for 'buried treasure' - and Pyrrha grabbed hold. Offering their daughter one last smile, the sorceress activated the magic in the artifact and with a pull behind the navel they were transported back to London once more.

* * *

"And we're back in London again." Pyrrha said as they landed in an alleyway. "Let's hope we don't find another daughter to adopt."

"Who knows with our luck." Alkaid giggled in amusement as they walked out of it.

Down the street stood the St. Mary's Home for Children orphanage. According to Sakura, the magician's base of operation was unknown. However, all it had taken for Alkaid to pin it down was a simple scrying. Admittedly, she'd had to get by a series of powerful wards before she managed to get the right place, but if she could do it then surely the Sorceress Supreme could too.

"I wonder why she didn't just scry his location herself." Alkaid said as they began walking towards the orphanage.

"'Kaidy, remember? Sakura can't because the Government didn't give her sanction to work here." Pyrrha reminded.

"Ah, yes. It's just difficult to understand when she's so powerful. As much as I love politics having to play by its rules when you're powerful enough to force everyone involved to just do what you say is just annoying."

"You forgot." Pyrrha teased her as they headed towards the orphanage.

The brunette swatted her arm playfully. "What? I'm still human, aren't I?"

"Yeah, though sometimes you act like you forget that." Pyrrha said with a playful smile.

The brunette just groaned in frustration.

The couple settled into a comfortable silence after that as they covered the short distance to the orphanage. As they reached the property line, they halted as Alkaid hummed in interest.

"Look at all the wards. Pretty decent for a kidnapping rapist." Alkaid said as she waved her hand in the air, " **Incantare: Recludam.** "

As her spell slammed into the wards around the property, they became visible as a multilayered dome of energy that cracked under Alkaid's invisible assault before shattering like glass.

"And now they're gone. I'm actually surprised there was so little power behind them. Either he is very arrogant or he just doesn't care."

"We'll find out when we corner the rat." Pyrrha said as they headed towards the door, but stopped a moment later at the sound of something creaking.

"I see why he left them so weak." Alkaid remarked cooly as she looked around. The couple were surrounded by what looked to be doll-like golems. "He was thinking of relying on an old fashioned trap instead."

The golems were little more than animated china dolls in various sizes and none were more than waist high. Most of them had sharpened blades instead of hands which served as their only weapons. Others however were a little more advanced and had elongated legs like frogs that they used to leap into the air directly at the couple.

" **Oval Protection!** "

A staticky white and green dome covered the couple as several golems jumped at them. They futilely stabbed at the barrier, their elongated blades cracking against the defense.

"Drop it." Pyrrha said as she raised Miló.

Nodding, Alkaid had the barrier explode out in a burst of magical energy. It wasn't very powerful so it didn't manage to do much in the way of damage, only taking out a couple of the golems but it did send those closest to the couple flying.

This gave Pyrrha the opening she needed to spit a gout of flame at the horde of pint sized terrors. The flames washed over the front lines of the swarm of dolls and set them ablaze, their wooden construction proving completely unable to withstand the magically induced, alchemically enhanced flames which quickly left dozens of them as nothing more than piles of ash.

Drawing her labrys, the redhead said, "Shield me up, Kaidy."

Alkaid just nodded, and with the air of long practice quickly cast the suite of defensive spells and wards over Pyrrha that she always did when her girlfriend waded into battle.

Barely waiting for her to finish, the daughter of Ares rushed at the swarm of golems. Her double headed axe slicing them into kindling with every swing, leaving a swath of broken wooden limbs and bodies behind her as she waded into their ranks.

Shaking her head at Pyrrha's love of up close and personal violence, Alkaid backed her up with some fire support. Drawing a card from her collection, she summoned her focus and eyed the dolls with disdain.

"What shoddy workmanship. They aren't very dangerous, even in such large numbers. Though I suppose _that_ could use some trimming. **Axel Shooter!** " With her scathing critique of the magician's defense complete, she snapped the card around her Grimoire.

In response, dozens of softball sized spheres materialized around her. They spiraled around her for a moment before suddenly speeding off in various directions. They ripped through the golems with ease as they zigged and zagged around them like angry wasps.

As they thinned the numbers, a dozen of the golems unhinged their jaws, showing hidden nozzles inside of their mouths. From these, they released a high pressured spray of a bubbling green liquid that washed over the couple.

Thankfully, their defenses held strong, but Alkaid frowned as she eyed her wards. The acidic substance bubbled and slowly ate away at them, as if it literally was burning away at the magic within.

 _It must be some kind of alchemical property. A nice touch against lesser wards, but not good enough._

"Hey! We better wrap this up quickly!" Pyrrha called out as she bisected two golems at once. "We shouldn't waste time dealing with fodder for too long!"

"You have a point," The emerald eyed woman agreed and called out to the darkness around them. Suddenly, a sea of spikes created from shadow erupted all around them. The dolls jerked up into the air as they were viciously impaled in every imaginable way. Soon the whole lot of them ceased moving.

Pyrrha, looking around, whistled, "Trying to imitate Vlad the Impaler?"

"Oh hush, you," Alkaid said as she walked towards the front door. "We're on a job, we can joke around later."

"Right." Pyrrha said with a pout even as she absentmindedly cut a leaper that had apparently been just playing dead in half even as it jumped towards Alkaid. "Still gonna tease you about it later."

"Later then." Alkaid promised, as she casually launched a shadowbolt over her shoulder to take out a second surviving leaper that had been about to try to stab Pyrrha from behind. "For now, let's focus on the mission."

As she reached the door, Alkaid paused. "Think he has any surprises waiting for us on the other side?"

"He might." Pyrrha replied, all traces of her earlier levity set aside. "On three?"

The daughter of Hades nodded and held up three of her fingers and began counting down. Beside her, Pyrrha tensed even as she gathered darkness into her free hand for another shadowbolt. As her last finger fell down, she sent the bolt screaming into the door which was blown off its hinges and sent crashing onto the floor within with a long bang.

It revealed a dark but otherwise unremarkable hallway that led deeper into the building.

The demigoddesses exchanged a look and Pyrrha nodded, before she cautiously led the way into the building. She stopped just ahead of a light switch a little ways into the doorway. Casting a few diagnostic charms on it just in case, Alkaid made sure it was safe before flipping it. Unfortunately, just like her charms suggested, the power was out.

"It's dead. He's probably cut power throughout the building for good measure." Alkaid informed her lover.

"Just our luck. A competent bad guy." Pyrrha said as she held her wand up. " _Lumos_."

Alkaid had other ideas and cast, " _Dancing Lights_."

At her invocation, dozens of motes of light materialized around her before a good bunch of them danced ahead to light the way for the couple. "Best leave your wand free, Pyrrha."

"Alright, but where'd you learn this one?" The redhead asked.

Smirking, the brunette said, "Baba Yaga likes to drop small nuggets of knowledge my way once in a blue moon."

As they walked down the hallway, both noted how vacant the building was. Even when they passed by rooms and stopped to search them, they found no one. Not even a sign of recent habitation. It was an ominous sign and had them both on edge.

"He couldn't possibly have taken _everyone_ here, right?" Pyrrha asked worriedly. Her grip around her labrys tightened at the thought.

Alkaid could empathise. She'd done some research on this place after figuring out that it was their target's lair. St. Mary's was home to at least a hundred children from newborns all the way up to teenagers on the verge of adulthood, alongside a full time live in staff of twenty three people. For _all_ of them to have become the depraved magician's victims… It was terrible to even contemplate.

"I hope not." Alkaid offered sincerely, before adding on in the saddest tone she could manage. "But it's highly likely that he has."

"Lousy fucker." Pyrrha spat on the floor. "I'm gonna gut him when I find him."

"Leave some for me. I want a piece of him too."

Their conversation was brought to a close when they walked into what seemed to be the cafeteria. The dining tables were still there, though there was a layer of dust over them that indicated that no one had used them in quite awhile. The room itself was another matter altogether, as the wall was lined by dozens of mannequins dressed in a strange collection of clothes ranging from standard casual wear to modern combat gear to elaborate outfits befitting an extravagant magician. Considering the trails cut into the layer of dust on the floor, those had been new additions.

"What the Pi-"

Before Pyrrha could finish her curse, the mannequins suddenly jerked to life. Moving in an awkward inhuman way, they began drawing weapons and moved to attack the couple. A group hung back as they readied ranged weapons. They cocked guns, one was pulling back the string of a crossbow and there was even one readying to shoot an arrow at them with a longbow. Ahead of these were others of their ilk that were charging at the couple with batons, combat knives, and even a couple swords.

"Alright, now that's just ridiculous!" The daughter of Ares snarled as she batted them away with her large weapon.

" **Round Shield!** " Alkaid shouted as she conjured a shield right in front of the firing line of ranged golems. " **Shield Burst!** "

At her command the shield unleashed a powerful burst of energy that incinerated the entire cohort of ranged golems. With that threat dealt with, Alkaid took a moment to actually look at the golems. It took only a moment of this before a horrifying hypothesis began to dawn on her.

Pyrrha jumped back to avoid the swing of a sword and said, "These bigger ones are pretty sluggish. I think this guy doesn't know what he's doing with all these different types."

"I'm more worried about where he got these clothes." Alkaid admitted, even as she shot a shadowbolt through the head of one of the mannequins trying to get around Pyrrha to attack her. Its head was completely destroyed but that barely seemed to slow it down as it continued to mechanically stumble towards her.

 _I need something with more firepower._ Alkaid noted.

"What do you mean?

"I'll explain in a minute. For now, **Bloody Dagger**!"

Red knives materialized behind her back in a formation that looked liked a pair of deadly wings. With a flick of her wrist, the deadly 'feathers' shot through the air as crimson streaks. Swerving through the air and evading every clumsy attempt by the golems to deflect them, the blades embedded themselves firmly into the chests of every one of the surviving automatons.

With a snap of her fingers, the daggers detonated with enough force that the golems were blown to pieces. Pyrrha which had been busy fending them off in close quarters combat was only saved from the explosions and resulting sharpnel by the protections Alkaid had cast on her.

For a moment after the rapid series of explosions, the cafeteria was silent save for Pyrrha's panting.

"Those clothes the golems were wearing-"

"What about them?"

Alkaid shot her lover an irritated look for the interruption which caused her to flinch.

"Sorry."

"As I was saying before I was cut off," Alkaid continued. "Those golems were dressed in outfits that fit the last known descriptions of the people who were known to have gone missing after trying to go after our target."

Pyrrha shot a quick look at the wrecked remains of the mannequin golems. "You're saying that the sicko dressed his little clockwork men in the clothes he stole off the people he took down?"

"Exactly. Now I just worry where _they_ are."

Shouldering her weapon, Pyrrha changed the subject, "So why did you change spells?"

The sorceress shrugged, "I like to use some variety."

 _Also because Axel Shooter doesn't pack enough firepower in each bullet to be economical against those mannequins. Not that I want to explain that to Pyrrha. A magician needs to keep her secrets after all._

"Right~!" Pyrrha replied in a disbelieving drawl. "Well, let's get going. There's still plenty of ground to cover."

* * *

It took the girls a little over half an hour to search the rest of the ground floor, thankfully without incident before they found themselves at a staircase.

"Basement or first floor?" Pyrrha asked as she eyed the stairs leading to each warily. Considering the dark aura emanating from both, Alkaid couldn't blame her.

"Basement." Alkaid said without hesitation. "It's underground and after the creepy dungeon crawl so far, I'd really like the feeling of having a bit of the homeground advantage."

"You do know it's always the fucking basements with these creepers, right?" Pyrrha grumbled as they descended down.

"That's a stereotype." Alkaid shot back, as she pushed open the door. "I'm sure, we'll find nothing down here but a simple base-"

The cat got her tongue as she found herself looking into a large chamber filled with people tied up on racks. They were all naked with electrodes attached to their heads and tubes stuffed into their mouths, behinds and genitals. Tubes and wires led away from each one of them across the floor and in bunches tied to the ceiling, all of them connecting to a machine in the centre of the room with spinning magical circles all around it. The room was full of the magician's doll golems who were busily attending to the hundreds of people hooked up to the machine.

"So stereotype, huh?" Pyrrha asked nervously.

"Not now, Pyrrha." Alkaid hissed as she walked up to the nearest victim. It was a young boy that was probably no older than twelve. His body was covered in sweat that caused his bright blonde hair to stick to his skin in what must have been an uncomfortable way, not that he noticed. His sky blue eyes might have been open but they were utterly unseeing, simply staring blankly into space.

As Alkaid stepped within six feet of the boy, a familiar creaking filled their ears as every one of the seemingly thousands of doll golems in the room turned to look at them with eerie synchronicity. Not that Alkaid cared, she was too busy gritting her teeth as her fury boiled over.

"I am very angry right now." The daughter of Hades hissed, the shadows around her reacting to her agitation and writhing to life.

Like outside the building, the dolls swarmed towards the couple. Unlike the earlier batch of doll golems though these dolls were all only armed with various equipment instead of hands, most of them sparking with electricity. Thankfully none of them seemed able to fire off bolts of lightning or anything.

"We'll need to be careful of the victims." Alkaid reminded Pyrrha as the redhead engaged the first of the golems, cutting them to pieces. "Don't use Miló."

"Gotcha." Pyrrha agreed. "You don't go around throwing bombardment spells around either, okay?"

"Right." The sorceress said with a nod even as she primed her magic for the battle ahead. " **Axel Shooter!** "

Again dozens of green energy bullets appeared around her which with a flick of her hand she sent screaming into the ranks of the golems. They carefully swerved around the tied up victims to slam into the golems from unexpected angles, destroying them by the dozens. They thinned the tide but the golems just kept coming in what seemed liked endless waves.

"This is just a repeat of the horde outside the building." Pyrrha noted with annoyance. "Doesn't this guy have any creativity?"

Alkaid just shrugged. "You're probably right. These golems don't really have many offensive options either. Or he intended to use them as fodder so didn't feel the need to put much thought into programming their attack patterns."

"So he's lazy?" The daughter of Ares sneered as she caved the head of one of the dolls in before spinning to decapitate another, all while the sorceress kept up a withering barrage of energy bullets.

"Probably?" Alkaid agreed half-heartedly, as she reduced the tempo of her barrage. The waves of golems were drying up, apparently they'd taken out most of the dolls that the magician had attending his victims.

With a grunt, Pyrrha bisected the last golem and turned to Alkaid. "What do we do with these people? Is it safe to disconnect them from that machine?"

Alkaid eyed the poor blonde boy again, examining the machinery that had been attached to him and shook her head.

"I don't think so. I don't recognize any of the equipment they're hooked up to. It'll probably be safer to wait for some experts to look this over before we try anything."

"Yeah, wouldn't want to hurt them by accident." Pyrrha agreed, a pained look on her face as she looked at the rows and rows of helpless strung up victims. It didn't escape Alkaid's notice that her eyes were drawn to a redheaded woman about their age a couple rows in. The woman didn't have more than a passing resemblance to Pyrrha, but it seemed it was more than enough to unsettle her lover. "These people have suffered enough."

"Agreed." Alkaid said as she put a comforting hand on her girlfriend's shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "Besides it's not safe here. The magician is probably still around. We don't want to have to fight him while we've got hundreds of traumatized people to babysit."

"That too." Pyrrha agreed, putting a hand over Alkaid's own and giving her own reassuring squeeze.

Smiling at the signal from the daughter of war that she was alright, Alkaid pulled her hand back and turned to the door. "Let's go. We've got a magician to hunt down. The sooner we finish him, the sooner we can get help for these people."

Pyrrha's only reply was to step up beside Alkaid, a wordless affirmation of the desire to track the piece of shit down and tear him limb from limb.

They were saved the trouble however when the basement door exploded inwards in a large fireball. Alkaid, quickly threw up a **Round Shield** to deflect the debris, even as the magician and his entourage made their appearance.

He was a middle-aged man, with a slim figure and broad shoulders, a very long and thin face with a pointy chin and defined cheekbones, with small and pale eyes. His dark brown hair was cut to the nape of his neck and combed into a side parting to his right-hand side. He also had a full beard and mustache. He was dressed like someone from the Victorian era, with his outfit consisting of black trousers, a white shirt, a gray waistcoat with a red tie, a brown coat and a top hat.

He wasn't what was most eye-catching, disturbingly so, of the group who entered the room though. That dubious honor went to the four naked young women around him that had formed up like a wall of human shields and immediately attacked the couple with their magic.

The first was a young Asian woman with aqua eyes and long wavy black hair that shaped her hands into finger guns and fired curses at them from her pointer fingers.

There was also a black woman with mocha skin, deep purple eyes, unkempt waist-length brown hair and pointed ears. She fired off energy blasts from her hands that caused, if her stray shots were any indication, everything they touched to decay at a hyper-accelerated rate.

The third woman was a petite young woman with long, pink hair and pink eyes. Unlike the previous two women, she wielded a wand that she leveled at the demigoddesses and began to cast _Bombarda_ repeatedly in quick succession.

The last of the magician's hit squad of mindless slaves wasn't a woman at all, but to the couple's anger was a little girl that couldn't have been older than ten. She had long blonde hair, golden eyes and was throwing fireballs the size of her head at them.

" **Oval Protection**!" Alkaid dispelled the **Round Shield** in favour of this more robust defense as the mixed barrage of projecticles came hurtling their way. Her eyes narrowing and her insides roiling with disgust at the yellow stains of dried ejaculate that covered the women's unclad bodies.

Even as his thralls kept the demigoddesses pinned, the magician himself began summoning a legion of his golems - both the doll and mannequin types - to the battle.

"'Kaidy, his dolls are filling up the room!" Pyrrha noted nervously as the automatons did in fact start to take up the entire area around the entryway.

"I noticed." Alkaid grit her teeth and concentrated on one of her demigod powers. "Don't worry. I'll even up the odds."

The ground all around the room began to open up in small fissures from which squads of skeletal warriors armed in Greek hoplite armor and U.S. army uniforms emerged.

"That should level the playing field." Alkaid noted with satisfaction as her undead minions clashed with the golems. They quickly proved their superiority by gaining the upper hand over the automatons though the latter's sheer numbers meant the fight was still far from decided.

"Undead? How mundane!" The man laughed as he tilted his top hat up, a wicked madness in his eyes as he looked at the couple. "Worry not though, my dears. I have special plans for meddlers. Escapically such...appealing ones."

"Dream on, you sicko!" Pyrrha shouted even as Alkaid gently nudged her towards cover. Her barrier was already starting to strain under the barrage from the man's harem.

"Angus Bumby, you have been sentenced to death by the Sorceress Supreme." Alkaid informed the fool as she and Pyrrha finally made it behind the cover of one of the tied up victims. It was just in time as the last of the magic sustaining her **Oval Protection** ran out and the spell collapsed. Just as thankfully, Bumby seemed unwilling to harm his 'product' and the barrage ended for the moment. "A sentence I will be more than happy to carry out."

She was loathe to use one of the man's victims as a shield, but beggars couldn't be choosers.

"Such serious young ladies. Certainly you have better things to do then bother little ol' me? Or perhaps that's why you're here? To have some fun with me? I'm all for it!" The madman said cheerfully. "Though I have other games in mind. Games a lot more fun than something as plebeian as a fight."

At this, he licked his lips hungrily. Looking on, the demigoddess couldn't help but feel thoroughly unclean to be the subject of this man's lust.

The gesture seemed forced though as the moment after he finished acting like some over the top villain, he turned sober and a grim look settled on his features.

 _Split personality? Or-_ Alkaid's thoughts were derailed when Bumby snapped his fingers and sent a unseen wave of magic racing across the whole room.

Alkaid easily shook off the mental attack. Her wards and mental defense were a fortress and such a weak spell wasn't going to faze her. After her harrowing experience with the Sirens in Forks, she'd made sure to prioritize her resistance to attacks designed to seize control of her body and/or mind. She was _never_ going to allow herself to be controlled by someone else like that ever again. Not if she could help it.

Pyrrha however was not so well prepared and swayed on her feet. She looked like she was punched drunk and she was forced to use her labrys to keep herself on her feet. Seeing this, Alkaid acted quickly so her girlfriend didn't get hurt and fired a low yield **Photon Lancer** into the redhead's side.

"Ow!" Pyrrha yelped in pain but her lover ignored it as her hands quickly weaved through the air as she strengthened the child of war's defenses.

"Hey, thanks 'Kaidy."

"No problem." Alkaid breathed a small sigh of relief, only to be caught off guard as Bumby's demented harem took the opening their distraction had created to attack the demigoddesses.

Suddenly the whole room was on fire, spinning back to the harem Alkaid noted that the blonde was using what looked like pyrokinesis to spew forth torrents of fire from her hands that were spreading through the chamber at an alarming rate.

Alkaid's undead soldiers reeled back as the flames began to burn their bleached bones, while seemingly leaving the golems, the heinous equipment and the victims strapped to them unharmed.

This was the least of their worries though as a group of the mannequin golems somehow managed to get behind the lines of her undead troops to appear at their flank and began firing on them with the rifles they had been equipped with.

"Take cover!" Alkaid screamed at Pyrrha. She dived to the side and rolled behind another row of the frames containing one of the victims. Simultaneously, she summoned a fresh batch of skeletal warriors right on top of the mannequin riflemen to deal with them.

The strain of maintaining so many undead was starting to eat into her reserves and the daughter of Hades was starting to get a little concerned. However, they were necessary. She had no other options available to tie down the man's seemingly inexhaustible supply of golems.

Putting that thought out of her mind for now, she tried to assess the situation. No easy task thanks to the sweltering heat in the room, it was so hot that it made thinking difficult. Nevertheless Alkaid fought past the discomfort and looked around trying to figure out the nature of the flames engulfing the room.

 _What kind of fire magic is this? Shit, I have to take her down. And the black woman as well. Judging by the way her energy seems to cause everything, even my magic, to decay like that, she's somehow actually manipulating entropy._

Alkaid had no counter to such a power. By the Pit, she had yet to even combat someone who could do that!

Just where did this bastard hunt down such a unique ability?

 _Alright, just calm down and take stock of the situation. The skeletons are weakened but still combating the golems._ A fact she knew from the way the damnable automatons hadn't managed to flank them a second time, not for lack of trying mind you. _The wards Pyrrha and I have are being drained by the flames. What's more that dark skinned bint is really pissing me off with her beams._

"'Kaidy! We need to go on the offensive!"

"I know, Pyrrha!" The daughter of Hades declared and refreshed their wards. "Target the black woman-"

They didn't make it any further in their little strategy meeting when with a cry of _Wingardium Leviosa_ , the cover that the couple had been hiding behind was lifted into the air.

Both demigoddesses immediately broke into a run and barely avoided the entropic blasts that were sent their way. Charging into the chaotic melee between the undead and the golems, they tried to make themselves as difficult targets as possible for the black woman and the Asian girl as they opened fire on them.

The small child of the wicked harem was screaming at the rest of them, "The caster is on the right, behind rack #0311! The other one is two rows down near #0309!"

 _Alright, somehow she's using the flames to pinpoint us. Now that's just ridiculous!_ Alkaid fumed as she threw one of her cards into the air.

" **Frost Nova!"**

A blistering cold washed over the room and the whole room was blinded by a white light for a moment. As it faded, the flames and many of the golems were frozen solid. Even the golems that escaped total destruction looked worse for wear. Unluckily, the magician himself and his harem seemed unscathed, their position having been protected by a rapidly dying down wall of white fire.

The tides had turned against the man however as with most of his fodder dealt with, Alkaid's undead began rapidly advancing. The hoplites forming up around her and Pyrrha, presented a protective shield wall as they marched towards their enemy, while the rest of their skeletal brethren mopped up the remainder of the automatons.

" **Restrict Lock**." Alkaid chillingly cast at the small child. Like hell was she going to let that brat use her flames again.

Magic circles latched onto the blonde's limbs, painfully twisting her body into a spread eagle position in the air.

The pink haired youth quickly spun towards her restrained comrade and pointed her wand at her. " _Magnificum Finite_!"

The magical circles resisted for a moment, but quickly shattered into green motes that drifted away into the aether. The exertion proved too much for the witch however and she collapsed to her knees.

 _That's one down!_ Alkaid crowed as she nonchalantly cast another **Restrict Lock** on the blonde, ignoring how an entire cohort of her undead were reduced to piles of bone fragments by the black woman's entropic blasts or how a squad of her U.S. soldiers had their guns explode on them from one of the Asian girl's curses. As dangerous as those two were, the blonde with her ability to control the area with her flames was the biggest threat.

Unfortunately, even with the pink haired witch out of the picture it seemed that the magician still had a ready counter-magic user at his disposal. Breaking away from laying down fire on the undead, the black woman turned and with her hands encased in her entropic energy touched the blonde's binds. Predictably they shattered at the mere touch of her power.

Alkaid clucked in frustration at being thwarted again and was readying a new set of spells when she suddenly felt as though she was punched in the gut as a chunk of her wards collapsed. The backlash of it caused bone jarring pain to race through her body. That was expected, what was not was the wave of sickness that washed over her.

 _Smart bitch._ Alkaid acknowledged as she fell to her knees. _Embedding a curse to ride on the feedback of my collapsing wards. Not only is that clever, it's also extremely hard to pull off._

Failing to fight off the nausea the curse was inflicting on her, the daughter of Hades emptied the contents of her stomach all over the floor. As she did so, her fingers scrambled for one of her cards and she used it.

As **επικαλούνται: σημάνει διακόπτη** (Invoke: Spell Breaker) dispelled the curse that coursed through her body, Alkaid's bloodshot eyes glared at the young Asian girl who had shattered her wards.

Her sight was soon obscured by explosions however as the entropy user and pyromancer took advantage of her weakness to bombard her once more. Thankfully, Alkaid's undead troopers formed a wall of armor and bones around her, shielding their mistress from harm.

 _I hope Pyrrha's having better luck then I am._

* * *

Watching as 'Kaidy collapsed, Pyrrha hissed under her breath in annoyance. She could tell that whatever curse the Asian girl had hit her with was nasty. The way the wards that her lover had cast on her wavered was proof of that. That wasn't what pissed her off though, no that honor at the moment went to the fact that her girlfriend was being an overconfident ass. She knew the daughter of Hades could have countered that curse well before it hit, she'd seen her do it to worse curses when she trained with the Furies - usually only when Alecto bribed her to do so -, so the only way she'd been hit by it was if she was being overconfident like usual and let herself get distracted.

 _You're totally gonna get it when we get home._ The daughter of Hades growled.

Her own distraction proved to be Pyrrha's undoing as it left her open as another powerful mental attack from the pimp slapped her brain. One minute she was worrying about Alkaid and getting angry at her carelessness, the next her mind was filled by a thunderous roar that screamed at her to submit. It was so loud, Pyrrha couldn't even _hear_ her own thoughts.

Feeling like her brain was boiling in her skull, she tried to anchor herself on something, anything that would allow her to resist the rapist scum's attack. A stream of countless memories and thoughts flew through her mind but was swept away or drowned out by the man's roaring command. Her memories of Hogwarts, of times at Camp, of her Mum, none of them seemed to give her the strength she needed. Memories of Alkaid, who though she'd never admit it she knew in her heart of hearts was the love of her life, helped and steadily built a wall that softened the power of the man's call but she was still missing something. She could feel it.

Abruptly, her struggling mind dredged up a new memory. A recent one of Mina showing off her new fancy wardrobe to her mothers. Seeing her little Mina, all smiles and happy. Twirling in her little fru-fru dresses with 'Kaidy during that tiny fashion show, Pyrrha knew she had found it! This was a memory that the redhead wouldn't sell for the world.

One of her budding family that she hoped would grow even bigger.

Suddenly, a third presence entered her mind. A kind, sweet, curious, and absolutely bloodthirsty presence made itself known from _within_ the memory.

The being looked around and snarled at the man in the distance.

" **Leave my Mama, ALONE!"** Mina's sweet voice roared through her mind, filled with absolute murderous rage.

It was like the earth shook in Pyrrha's mind.

Just as dramatically in the outside world, Mina's protective rage caused the downed pink haired girl to scream in horrific pain for a moment before her head literally exploded in a shower of gore.

The rapist fuck stumbled back in shock as sweat dripped down his face. He wasn't the only one unsettled by the scene as the rest of his human dolls all stood there frozen in horror at what had happened to their comrade.

Shaking off the mental assault, Pyrrha got to her feet and bull rushed at them while they were distracted. Her skeletal protectors dutifully following in her wake, only to be waylaid by a freshly summoned batch of apparently half-built golems.

 _Looks like the dipshit is finally running out of the damn things._ Pyrrha noted with a vicious smirk as she left the skeletons to deal with the dolls and surged ahead to swing her large weapon at the Asian bint that hurt her 'Kaidy. The girl seemed to have regained some of her wits as she jumped back to avoid being bisected. She had a curse in her hands, ready to fire, but Pyrrha gave zero fucks to that.

Before the bitch could so much as raise her hand to point her curse at her, the daughter of Ares already had Miló aimed right in her face and sprayed a gout of red flames right at her pretty mug.

The girl screamed as the fire covered her whole body and set it ablaze. Her blonde friend turned and with a wave of her hand quickly put it out but the damage had been done. Most of her hair had been burned away along with the majority of her skin. Her body was little more than raw, burned flesh with some places outright blackened. It was a miracle that she was even alive, but by her laboured breathing Pyrrha could tell she wasn't likely to be for much longer. Either way, she was out of the fight and that's all she really cared about right now.

 _Two down, two more to go._ Pyrrha smiled viciously at the rest of the dying harem.

"Stay back, you filth!" The blonde screamed as she began to fling fireballs at her.

Following her lead, the pointy eared nutjob added to the fun by firing her little death beams at her too.

With her battle honed skills and reflexes, Pyrrha dodged and weaved through the attacks and closed the distance to the midget blonde despite the latter's frantic attempts to back away.

Without hesitation, she swung her celestial bronze axe down on the little girl and sliced the pyromaniac open along the stomach.

 _Why don't you try having your organs spilling out for a change?_ Pyrrha thought vindictively as she smirked at having taken down another of Bumby's pets.

Her sense of victory disappeared though when the girl's skin just knit back together, leaving unblemished pale skin. Backing away cautiously for a moment, Pyrrha rolled under one of the black woman's death rays and took a closer look at the blonde.

 _The fuck? What is she...wait, does she have fangs?_ Sticking out from the corners of her mouth and invisible from a distance, the small blonde was indeed sporting a set of tiny fangs. _Shit, vampire!_

The blonde girl hissed at her like a serpent, "I will not let you harm my mate!"

Anger stroking her blood, Pyrrha snarled, "Don't worry, you'll burn in hell with him you rotting bitch."

Pyrrha was about to change targets and charge at the black woman since without silver the vampire was basically unkillable, when 'Kaidy unexpectedly rejoined the fight by launching a powerful shadow bolt directly at Bumby. The thing hit him dead on, but to Pyrrha's irritation, didn't do him any damage. Instead, a massive gaping wound suddenly tore itself open in the middle of the black elf's chest in a shower of gore and she collapsed to the ground, dead.

"You're running out of meat shields, Bumby." Alkaid snarled and stalked forward like a deadly panther. "How about this, I will end your nightmare here and now. So please, won't you both die for me?"

With a flick of her wrist a javelin shot out of the earth and straight for the rapist scum.

The runty vampire was having none of it and blurred in front of the old fucker. She swatted it away, but hissed in pain as her hand sizzled and bubbled.

"Silver." The bloodsucker noted as she looked down at her burned hands.

Without a word a pike of pure silver suddenly shot out from the ground and impaled the blonde right through her heart.

"N-No, NO!" Bumby roared in grief, "Helena!"

He screamed with such emotion that Pyrrha almost thought it might be genuine. Not that a monster like him could possibly feel anything like that.

"Now to deal with you." Alkaid said with a vicious smile as she readied what Pyrrha recognized was one of her 'shooting' spells, while she herself charged at the magician.

Alkaid's spell splashed against and Pyrrha was forced back by a wall of flame however. They weren't ordinary flames though, as the fire writhed with the twisted, howling shapes of tortured souls.

"Familiars." Alkaid clucked angrily, even as she began cooking up some new spell to bring the wall down.

"A-Angus," The vampire coughed out a glob of blood as she tried to reach for her mate. Sadly for her, she was rooted to the pike and slowly sliding down it. He saw her intent though and walked over to take her hand.

"D-Darling, I'm sorry." The vampire said as her legs caught fire and began turning to ash. "I couldn't protect your dream."

"It's okay." Bumby said, choking back a sob. "Without you it's not worth it. All those other women? I didn't care about any of them. You were always the only one that mattered."

"Thank you." The vampire said as her decomposition spread to her torso. "Being your slave and having sisters made me so happy."

"Anything for you, Helena." Bumby said tears streaming down his face. "Anything."

With one last smile for her mate, the vampire broke down into a pile of smoking ash and took her familiars with her.

Warily, Alkaid stopped her casting and the couple advanced on the pitiful little excuse of a mortal.

He put his hands in the air slowly.

"You're surrendering, dickbag? Because we don't have mercy for a shit like you." Pyrrha snarled. She just wanted to lop his head off. Her blood hungered for it.

"Please," He scoffed at them, "I just know when I'm beaten. What point is there to resist? I knew from the start, the second you walked onto the property that my number was up. From just how powerful you were, I could sense it, I was as good as dead. Besides all my dreams died with Helena, my darling, my sweet, my world."

"Then what are you doing?" Alkaid asked still wary, her magic coiling around her like a snake and her undead warriors marching up to surround them.

Seemingly ignoring her Bumby kept rambling.

"She convinced me to fight. We both knew that with the Sorceress Supreme after us, there would be no escape. She would hunt us to the ends of the earth. 'Better to die fighting than hunted like a coward.' That's what Helena said anyways. So that's what we did."

"And now she's dead." Pyrrha pointed out leveling her lybras threateningly at the man.

"Yes. Yes she is." The psychopath agreed with a disturbing amount of nonchalance. "But she won't be alone for long."

"Wha-"

Alkaid never finished her question as with a vicious, victorious smirk on his face Angus Bumby's legs gave out on him and the man collapsed to the ground. As surprising as that was, it was quickly overshadowed as the basement of horrors was suddenly once more engulfed in flames as the hundreds of the man's hapless insensate victims spontaneously combusted.

"That son of a bitch!" Alkaid snarled.

"'Kaidy, what the hell is going on?!"

Her fists clenched, the daughter of Hades said, "He used a death curse to kill himself. It's a spell that uses up a magician's entire life force and magic. Basically, a final fuck you to your enemies."

Her emerald eyes looked out at the many burning bodies in anger.

"And he's used it to send us the middle finger." Pyrrha said with a growl. "Killing his victims so we can't save them."

"Precisely."

Unlike the pyrokinetic vampire's flames, the uncontrolled blaze unleashed by Bumby's death curse was rapidly spreading. In fact it seemed to be growing supernaturally fast and in a suspiciously specific manner as the fire crept up the walls and began to consume the support beams.

"Shit, we can't do anything for them now. We've gotta go, 'Kaidy." Pyrrha said as she grabbed her lover's arm.

Alkaid nodded sadly and with one last forlorn look at the still burning corpses of the innocents she'd failed to save the daughter of Hades Apparited the two of them out of the building.

They rematerialized on the street outside of the orphanage and was greeted with the sight of the building collapsing as the unnatural fire burned it to the ground.

"We've failed." Alkaid said in a pained whisper as the light of the flames danced in her eyes.

"I couldn't agree more." A thickly accented voice said from behind the couple.

Spinning around the demigoddesses saw a blue eyed young woman roughly the same age as them with long red hair that she wore loose with the flanks held in twin tails by a pair of red barrettes. She was wearing a short dress made up of white feathers with two feathery wings that hung from her back. The dress split just above her navel and revealed much of her cleavage, and was reminiscent of a vest. The deep, revealing v-cut was lined by a row of long feathers on either side, thus continuing up her torso and wrapping around her shoulders to form a sort of collar, her skirt was also partially split down the middle. Dark blue gloves covered her arms past her elbows and she wore knee-length, dark blue stockings with light blue, feathered boots.

 _Considering the get up. She's definitely a magical of some kind._

"And you are?" Alkaid asked, her guard up around this young woman that had just appeared from nowhere.

"The name's Angel." The elaborately dressed woman offered with a curtsy. "And you're Alkaid Potter, Sakura-sama's new favorite."

"What am I? Chump change?" Pyrrha hissed, even as her grip on her lybras tightened in expectation of a potential fight.

The twin tailed girl ignored her fellow redhead in favor of looking at Alkaid, her eyes narrowed.

"And you are here because?"

"I was about to deal with this pathetic excuse of a magician." Angel said gesturing to the burning orphanage. "Unfortunately, it seems you beat me to it. A shame. If I'd been the one to end him, I'm sure that I'd have done better. At least saved some of his victims."

"Yeah, sure." Pyrrha snorted. "Too bad you weren't fast enough."

Alkaid shot her girlfriend a small glare to tell her to not escalate the standoff into an actual fight.

"Yes, as I said, a shame. Sakura-sama, really should have sent me on this mission, instead of relying on freelancers like you two."

"If you are here to critique, keep it to yourself. We're done here." Alkaid cut off the conversation. Her own ire growing at this girl trying to pick a fight.

The girl just smiled, seemingly pleased to have managed to get a rise out of the daughter of Hades.

Grabbing a stone off the ground, Alkaid turned it into a Portkey and held her hand out to Pyrrha.

"Enjoy your time in Sakura-sama's good graces while you can, Potter. You won't stay her favourite for long."

Alkaid said nothing as Pyrrha flipped her off just as the Portkey's magic took hold and with the familiar pull at her navel the couple disappeared in a flash of magic.

* * *

 **Omake: Sex Ed. for a Killer**

Alkaid was tucking Mina into bed one night, when her sleepy daughter asked her one of the questions that parents around the world and across time dreaded most.

"Mother, what's sex?" The adorable serial killer asked as she snuggled into her blankets.

Alkaid's usually frantic thoughts skittered to an abrupt stop as she looked at the young goddess in shock.

 _What in the world!? Why is she even talking about this?_

"I'm sure you know, Mina. After all, you grew up in a red light district didn't you?" She offered with a strained smile. _Please says yes. Please say yes._

"Yes, but I only know it's how people make babies. That's all the old ladies would ever tell me about it. Mother, there's more to it, right? Tell me~!" Mina giggled as she wiggled under the covers.

"What brought this on?" Alkaid tried to deflect.

Pouting at her mother's failure to answer her question, the little girl nevertheless dutifully answered.

"Missy Baba talked to me about it after I caught her watching some silly show with this woman in a tight outfit taking it off in front of some man."

 _Was Baba Yaga watching porn while babysitting Mina!?_ Alkaid thought to herself, scarcely able to believe what she'd deduced. Not only had she thought better of the folk hero, but the mere thought of the ancient witch whose true form was that of an wrinkly old woman even watching something like that churned her stomach.

"It was nothing, sweetie." Alkaid lied.

"Na-uh! Missy Baba said they were going to have sex. It looked like they were having fun. Mina wants to try too!"

"No!" Alkaid shouted immediately, in tandem with a newly arrived Pyrrha.

 _Was she eavesdropping on us? Honestly, Py._ Alkaid frowned but focused on Mina for now. She did not want her baby girl goddess to somehow wind up pregnant. That was a nightmare she'd like to avoid, thank you very much.

"You're too young, honey. You need to grow up first. Stay small and tiny for Mother please?"

"So I can do it once I'm a grown up?"

"Uh, yeah, once you're a grown up and find someone you really like." Pyrrha explained helplessly.

"I really like?" Mina muttered, tilting her head in innocent confusion. "You mean when I like someone enough to play stabbity stab with them?"

"Not quite." Alkaid said with a comforting smile. "You do it with someone you love enough to want to spend the rest of your life with."

 _Ideally anyways._ The sorceress added mentally. Her daughter was confused enough as is, there was no need to muddy the waters for her even more by bringing in the idea of one night stands or hook up culture. Besides, Alkaid strongly disapproved of the trivializing of something as sacred as sex that such behavior implied and wasn't about to introduce it to Mina if she could help it. Gods forbid, she actually went to try it out.

"Like a pet?" Mina knitted her brow in thought. "I like doggies."

"N-Not like a pet. No." Alkaid replied, her smile becoming strained as the conversation veered into an even more uncomfortable direction. One that she never wanted to talk about with her daughter, ever.

"Like how Mama loves Mother." Pyrrha said helpfully as she rested a hand on Alkaid's shoulder, silently offering her support in this trying ordeal.

 _Oh gods thank you!_ Alkaid smiled in relief.

"Oh, so Mina should be screaming a lot? And wear lots of leather?"

"...Have you been sneaking into our room?" Alkaid gulped nervously.

"I like watching you two sleep."

"Something like that, Kiddo." Pyrrha said as she leaned down to kiss Mina's brow and smiled, "I promise to explain more later. Right now, little snow white needs her sleep. Okay?"

"Okay," Mina pouted but thankfully listened to her Mama. "Night Mama. Night Mother."

"Goodnight sweetheart." Alkaid said as she leaned down to give Mina a kiss of her own.

Once their little girl was asleep, the couple crept out of the room as quietly as they could.

"We're going to need better locks." Pyrrha said as they walked towards their bedroom.

Alkaid nodded. "That and better sound proofing. You think we could convince Lord Hephaestus to help us out? I doubt anything short of a god's workmanship is going to keep our little rascal out."

"We'll have to ask." Pyrrha said with a shrug. "Even if he does say yes, it's gonna cost us. Big time."

"Maybe." Alkaid agreed while shooting her lover a smoldering look and pulling her into a deep kiss.

As they pulled apart, the daughter of Hades added in a heated voice. "But if that's the price of being able to fuck your brains out then it's more than worth it."

With her hands holding Alkaid tightly by the waist, Pyrrha replied, "Yeah, totally worth it."

The couple headed to their room, not noticing their daughter's door crack open and a pair of yellowish green eyes watching them.

* * *

 **Done and done! Thanks to the team of Nameless and Axios as always.**

 **And so, the game begins...again. Alkaid and Pyrrha are off doing their own thing right now. And Mina needs an eye on her at all times. Gods knows what might happen if there wasn't, and who better for the job than Al's nanny Alecto?**

 **Nameless: What did you guys think of Bumby? Did we go too far? Perhaps for the canon Riordanverse. It seems to take a relatively moderate take on the myths it incorporates, ignoring or downplaying some of the darkest elements in them. We on the other hand have decided to embrace it. Expect more of this kind of stuff in the future. Hope you guys like the direction we're taking.**

 **Ah, American McGee's Alice, such a monstrosity you made. And we will happily use it! Still, having a loli vampire lover to help you poach your prey? Scary. As to who they were? Well, one was Rin Tohsaka, forgive me my twintail lovely. The dark elf woman was a expy of Ikaruga Suginami from AntiMagic Academy 35th Test Platoon. I liked her concept of using science to turn into an actual elf, even if only for a short time. The witch was Louise from Familiar of Zero. A love/hate relationship with this one, urg. Lastly, the vampire was based off the vampire Helena from the first anime adaption of Hellsing.**

 **Nameless: They probably didn't deserve the treatment we gave them, but we needed victims for Bumby and just picked a group of ladies that popped into our head at the time. Sorry girls!**

 **And now Asuka from Evangelion makes an appearance. With an Angel motif no less. Now that's just irony. It seems Alkaid has a new rival for Sakura's attention, though it might be one sided at the moment.**

 **Nameless: Of course it is, we chose her appearance entirely for the sake of the irony after all. As for the purpose of introducing her? Well, it's something of a spoiler so... [SPOILER ALERT!] Basically, we're compartmentalizing Alkaid's story into different spaces within which she operates like the magical world, the Olympian world, dealing with other pantheons, etc. That being the case, we decided that she needed antagonists in each of these spaces. Angel is thus designed to help serve this purpose.**

 **Well, you know what to do! Smash that review button and tell us what you love. No flames and peace off my peeps!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson or Harry Potter.**

 **Consul of the Underworld: Grinding Phase**

 **Chapter Eight: Shattering the Herd**

 **Beta: ShadowofAxios**

* * *

"We don't need to do this." Pyrrha told Alkaid as they stood over a map laid out on a table that the sorceress was using to scry the location of their target.

"Py, honey, I _need_ a win right now. That last mission left a bad taste in my mouth." Alkaid strongly stated.

"Yeah, but Granger? Why can't we leave it to the wizards? It's not like we need to handle this."

The brunette glanced at her lover, who looked a touch peeved.

"Jealous?"

"A little."

"Well, you don't need to be." Alkaid reassured. "I'm just looking out for a friend."

"A friend?" Pyrrha scoffed. "You two weren't exactly close last time I remembered."

"Is my dear girlfriend a touch jealous?" Alkaid couldn't help but tease a little. "You're acting as if Gabby is hanging off of me again."

"Please! I'm just saying you used to be pretty tight with the girl back in Hogwarts is all. Like you were grooming her or something." Pyrrha crossed her arms and looked away.

"Mayhaps, but that was ages ago. So it shouldn't be an issue, correct?"

"Yeah, whatever." The redheaded girl said with a sigh.

"Ok, I've located her." Alkaid said with a smile. "Let's get going."

Pyrrha just growled in frustration. "Fine, let's go."

"Grab hold." Alkaid said as she hands a piece of rope that she quickly enchanted into a Portkey out to her girlfriend.

Frowning, the redhead took hold just as the magic of the artefact activated.

* * *

The portkey deposited the couple on a small rock ledge directly outside a cave on the side of a mountain somewhere in the Scottish highlands. They were greeted almost immediately upon materializing however by a cannonball sized boulder hurtling at them. With no time to do anything fancy, the demigoddesses dropped to the ground to avoid being hit and sent tumbling down the side of the mountain.

"What the fuck!? 'Kaidy, you didn't tell me we were coming in hot!" Pyrrha hissed furiously as she raised Miló and shot a gout of flame at their attacker inside the cave.

"How was I supposed to kno- Pyrrha! Stop! That's Granger!" Alkaid shouted as the light from the flamethrower illuminated the darkness of the cave enough to reveal a head of distinctive bushy hair shielding herself from the fire behind a boulder.

Pyrrha cut off the stream of flames as Alkaid called out.

"Granger! Granger, it's Alkaid and Pyrrha!"

"We're here to help!" Pyrrha added. "So don't lob anymore rocks at us."

"Alkaid and Pyrrha?" Granger asked hesitantly as she poked her head out from behind her rocky cover.

"Yes!" Alkaid exclaimed.

The head ducked back into the cave for a moment as if in consideration, before popping back out a moment later.

"Alright! Come on in!" The bushy haired girl said urgently. "Quickly! Before the bastards show up!"

The couple did so, heading into the cave to find a disheveled Hermione Granger. Her face was plastered with sweat and grime, the same with her naked body. Behind her were half a dozen women and young girls. Like her they were dirty and mostly nude, with only a handful of dirty rags between them. Two of them were pregnant, including a young girl who couldn't have been older than fourteen. All of them also had rope marks around their necks and wrists.

"...Fucking pieces of shit." Pyrrha snarled as she tightened her fists.

Alkaid had seen what monstrous centaurs could do before, but back then she'd only been confronted with dead bodies. Faced with living, battered proof of their depravity, she couldn't help but be even more sickened by their kind.

"We're getting you all out of here." She told them in a dead serious tone, even as she conjured some clothes for them.

The women rushed for the clothing and quickly slipped them on. Some of them doing so with tears in their eyes and murmurs of how it made them feel human again.

Granger had a nervous look on her face as she pulled on a pair of sweatpants and a loose top.

"Alkaid, I don't think we can. T-There's so many of them. I've barely been able to keep them at bay with accidental magic since they took my wand!"

Exhausted tears spilled from her eyes, which were heavily ringed and bloodshot. "They come every night, when I'm most tired and try to swarm us. I've barely managed to hold them off. They've even managed to make off with some of us."

The other women whispered names amongst themselves.

"Relax. We've got it handled." Pyrrha grinned with bloodlust rolling off her in waves.

"Do you now?" A rough male voice sounded from the mouth of the cave, causing the collection of women to spin around and find a small group of centaurs standing there.

"I'll enjoy breaking you." The beastmen's leader, a centaur with a mohawk and a row of spikes running down his spine said as he leered at Pyrrha.

The women, even Granger, recoiled at the sight. Some even whimpered in fear. The demigoddesses though were not so easily intimidated.

"Yeah, no you won't." Pyrrha snarled as she brought out her labrys and slammed it into the ground, splitting the earth in front of her. "How about you fight someone that can actually fight back you walking glue factory? Or should I tie one hand behind my back to help your ego?"

Unlike her lover, Alkaid wasn't in the mood for banter and simply commanded the deep shadows of the cave to come to life. Drawing inspiration from her family pet, the daughter of Hades had the darkness shape itself into the likeness of one of Cerberus' massive maws.

In the face of what looked like the very jaws of the Underworld closing in on them, the centaurs turned to flee only to discover their exit blocked by a wall of shadows.

 _Like I'd let you escape._ Alkaid thought to herself with a vicious smirk even as her construct swallowed the screaming centaurs whole.

"Embrace darkness my little ponies."

Pyrrha just stared at her, "...Gods, I love this side of you."

The brunette simply gave her lover a look. As much as she appreciated the compliment, now wasn't the time for it.

"Pyrrha, call the Aurors." Alkaid said seriously.

"You got it." Pyrrha said as she used _**Accio**_ to summon some sticks from the forest beyond the cave and used her wand to start a fire. With the fire going strong she pulled out a bag of Floo powder from Akoúo̱ and firecalled the Ministry.

"That was cathartic." Alkaid mused as she looked at Granger. "So, while we get the Aurors, care to explain what happened?"

Granger nodded, a small look of awe in her eyes. "I'd heard them say you did incredible things during the Battle of Hogwarts, but I've never really believed them. Not until now."

"Yes, thank you. Nevermind that for now though. Please, tell me what happened."

"Right. Um, sorry." The Gryffindor said, fidgeting nervously. "Just, um, I'm not really comfortable talking about it. Is it really necessary?"

"If we're going to deal with these rapist bastards then yes. We'll need to know as much as we can before we go face them." Alkaid insisted, causing Granger to pale slightly. "Look, I'm sorry that you have to recount what's probably a very upsetting experience, but I'm serious about needing to know what happened. Centaurs are _fast_! If I want to track down the whole herd of sickos which did this to you, I need to know everything and quickly. Otherwise, they'll just move on and we'll never find them again."

Reluctantly, the muggleborn nodded. "I came to speak to the centaurs as part of my job at the Ministry's Centaur Relations Office. Everyone else said never to go visit the centaurs alone. _Especially if you're a woman._ But I just thought it was all stupid sexist nonsense. The centaurs must have sensed how stupid I was, because they played along for a bit. Acted all nice, even offered me tea."

The poor girl trailed off then, looking off in the distance with a disgusted look. A disgust that was directed at herself.

"It tasted funny, reminded me of some of the potions we learned about in school. I even thought it tasted a bit like some of the sleeping potions we learnt in Sixth Year. But I brushed it off as my imagination. Except it wasn't. I was right. One minute I was chatting with the bastards amicably around their campfire and the next I was unconscious."

She stopped and seemed to fold in on herself. Alkaid opened her mouth to say something, she didn't know what, perhaps some attempt at comfort or a heartless prompt for her old schoolmate to continue. Thankfully, she was saved the necessity of having to do so by Granger continuing her account.

"I-I woke up, stripped and bound to a post." The traumatized woman said in a whisper even as a sob escaped her and she wrapped her arms tightly around her body. "It was horrible. I was inside a corral with other women and girls in similar states."

A brave look entered her eyes as she continued, "I was able to perform some accidental magic. It's how we've survived thus far. I managed to escape. The others saw me, but said nothing. It was easy to know what was going on." A horrified look entered her eyes, a twinge of madness mixed in them as well, "It wasn't hard to figure what I was to be about to be used for. I wasn't going to become some b-broodmare for them."

"And the others?" Alkaid asked as she looked at the huddled group of girls and women.

"I was able to set them free, but without my wand I could only free a handful at a time."

"I'm impressed." Alkaid said honestly, "Not many can do magic without a wand. Let alone under that much pressure."

"I know! It's supposed to be extremely difficult for a grown witch to learn how to do magic without a wand, but I managed. But it still wasn't enough!" Hermione balled her hands in frustration. "One of the centaurs spotted what I was doing when I had just barely freed half of us and sounded the alarm."

The daughter of Hades said nothing, softly urging her to continue as Hermione fought back some tears.

"I-I wasn't able to fight, not without my wand. My trick with the ropes wouldn't help us against those brutes and I couldn't do anything else. Thankfully, all the stress and fright I was feeling caused me to lose control of my magic and a burst of accidental magic sparked a large fire in their camp. The distraction helped us escape."

"You still managed something quite impressive."

Granger's spirit seemed to rise at the praise, "Thank you, but I wish I could have done more."

"You've kept them safe, didn't you?" Alkaid said gesturing to the women Hermione had rescued.

"Yes," Hermione nodded with a glimmer of her characteristic pride. "I've managed to hone my wandless magic a little over the past few days. It's been enough to keep us mostly safe, even if it's only enough for some telekinesis."

"Thus the big rock earlier." The demigoddess nodded and smiled at her reassuringly.

Granger started to shiver, a haunted look in her eyes now, "Even with how hard I fought though, I still lost over half of them."

Granger turned to look at the women she rescued, tears spilling from her eyes now.

Alkaid felt terrible for having to press her for more, but nowhere in Granger's harrowing account had she told her the information she needed most. As such, she was left with no choice but to be blunt. "Hermione, could you tell me where their camp is?"

The crying woman nodded and rubbing her eyes she replied. "It's about, I dunno, a half-day's run from here? Near a creek. At least it was when we escaped."

 _It should still be there. If there are still some of them harassing them then they have to still be nearby. That being the case, there's no reason for them to have moved._ Alkaid reasoned.

With that question answered, the daughter of Hades had only one question left. One she dreaded asking, but knew she had to anyways. Steeling herself, she gently placed a hand on Granger's shoulder. The bushy haired woman flinched a little but didn't move away and the daughter of Hades took heart in that sign of trust, even as she asked, "Did they violate you?"

Shaking her head, her bushy hair bouncing, Granger spat out, "N-No. When we were running I swapped stories with the other girls. The centaurs reserve that part of the process for when they b-break us in so that we would be compliant. They hadn't gotten that far with m-me."

Nodding, Alkaid turned around and started walking towards the mouth of the cave, "Good. Now I'm going to go slaughter some ponies. Stay vigilant for them until the Aurors arrive."

Granger stepped forward and grabbed hold of Alkaid's wrist, "I'm coming with you."

Her voice held steel in it, a viciousness that Alkaid never knew Granger had. It was… intriguing.

"You sure about that, Granger?"

The other woman just gave a determined nod.

"I _need_ to see those bastards die." The chestnut haired girl seethed as her eyes crackled with magic.

"You sure that's a good idea, Granger?" Pyrrha asked as she walked over. "Don't you think you've been through enough already? Won't seeing them again just make things hard on you? You flinched when those centaurs showed up just now."

"I know it'll be hard, Branwen. But like I said, I _need_ this. I don't think I can live with myself if I don't get closure for this and the only way I can do that is to see them all dead."

Pyrrha grunted with an annoyed look on her face, "Fine. Just don't slow us down."

Her lover sent her a reprimanding look, but the redhead ignored it.

"Pyrrha, you'll need to stay here."

"What!?" The daughter of war shouted, causing all of the centaurs' victims to cower away from her.

"Pyrrha!" Alkaid hissed at her girlfriend reproachfully.

"Sorry, but why?"

"Someone needs to stay to look after these people."

"Why can't you stay?"

"Can you guarantee that you can take out all the centaurs? More so than I can?"

Pyrrha grunted in annoyance, but acknowledged the point. "Fine. I'll play babysitter."

"Don't sound so happy about it." Alkaid said grumpily. She didn't like this any more than her lover did, she had become accustomed to having the redhead by her side whenever she got into a fight and now felt vulnerable without her there. Nevertheless, the situation demanded it. Why couldn't Pyrrha accept that with grace?

"Come, Granger. Stick close." Alkaid said as she headed off, the Gryffindor trailing quietly after her.

* * *

It didn't take long for Alkaid, with Hermione's directions based on half-remembered landmarks to locate the centaur's main camp. Like she'd said back in the cave, it was by a small creek. Though calling it a camp was being generous. Outside of the corral with the two dozen naked women inside tied to posts by their wrists and necks, there was nothing resembling a proper structure. There weren't even any tents. Instead, the centaurs milled about around a dozen different campfires and slept directly on the hard earth.

Hovering over them on a magical platform, Alkaid shot Granger a questioning look. "This is them?"

The bushy haired girl nodded.

Pulling out a spell card Alkaid slipped it in between the appropriate pages of her newly summoned Grimoire.

" _ **Gefängnis der Magie**_." The sorceress whispered to activate her spell.

Around the two women, a faintly green tinted bubble of energy appeared and began to rapidly expand to surround the whole area. It sealed the woodland away from the rest of the world, imprisoning the occupants within, all while leaving little sign of its presence beyond a faint green light that now permeated the area.

This did not go unnoticed by the centaurs below, as they began to stir in confusion and a group of them began gathering around a particularly bestial specimen. He had ram-like horns, a long metallic rat-like tail and vaguely tiger like stripes on the coat of his equine body.

"That's Motaro." Hermione said with a shiver. "He's their chief."

"Is he now?" Alkaid hummed thoughtfully as she called on the shadows to envelop the centaur's prisoners and transport them via Shadow Travel back to the cave where Pyrrha - and hopefully, by now, the Aurors - would be waiting to tend to them.

"And now, for the fireworks." Alkaid said with a gleeful smile. She so enjoyed dishing out well deserved justice.

Granger looked at her in mild confusion at her words, but the demigoddess paid her no heed at the moment. She had creatures to smite.

Pulling out another card and closing her Grimoire around it, Alkaid chanted, " _ **επικαλούνται: Οι Επτά βέλη της η Μεγάλη Άρκτος**_ [Invoke: The Seven Arrows of the Big Dipper]."

Suddenly, a loud noise filled the sky. The air rippled from strong winds as a roar similar to that of a jet engine but ten times more intense drowned out all other sound.

Looking up at the source, Granger gasped even as they flew past the two women. "Oh sweet Merlin…"

Raining down from the heavens were seven fiery meteors screaming down right at the centaur camp.

The idiot beastmen just stared up in stupefied awe as their doom came hurtling down upon them from the heavens. Well, not all of them. The Motaro fellow seemed to have enough sense to book it, but even a centaur's incredible speed proved insufficient to the task and he like the majority of his herd were killed by the multiple impacts of the meteors.

Unfortunately, it seemed the centaurs nearer the edge of the camp had more luck and managed to scatter before the impact.

"Tsch. Looks like there are still stragglers I'll need to pick off." Alkaid groused in irritation. "Granger, do you have any preferences on their demise or should I just wing it?"

"Uh, just kill them?" Hermione replied, sounding confused and faintly terrified.

Sighing, the daughter of the Rich One said, "Oh alright. Hm, let's try some Norse. I haven't done one of those in a while."

Peering through her cards, Alkaid pulled out one that should handle the stranglers nicely.

Snapping the Grimoire closed, she chanted, " _ **Angriff**_ _**von Balmung**_ [Assault of Balmung]."

Dozens of spectral swords spun in the air around the two women for a moment before they flew in multiple directions, hissing as they flew through the air at high speed to seek out their targets.

"And now we wait for a moment or two." Alkaid declared as she sat down on her platform and conjured a set of holographic screens to observe her handiwork.

"I-Is your barrier going to keep them contained? They won't escape right?" Granger asked quietly.

"Oh! They've found their mark. Look." Alkaid said as her spell hit their targets and gestured towards the screens. On it the surviving centaurs were meeting their grisly but well deserved fate. Some were hit so hard by the energy swords that they literally exploded on impact. Others who were fortunate enough to have the flying swords hit them after having slowed down for whatever reason were only gruesomely stabbed through the heart by the swords.

"I see. Good!" Granger nodded and had a look of rapture as she watched the centaurs be slaughtered.

"And that should take care of that." Alkaid dusted off some imaginary dust from her sleeve. WIth a snap of her fingers, the barrier around the area collapsed. "Now, shall we head back? The Aurors should have arrived by now."

Granger nodded mutely, an awed look on her face.

* * *

After taking care of the centaur tribe, the two returned to the cave to find the Aurors were already on the scene with several scouts on brooms doing a sweep of the area. Clothing, food, and mediwitches were being brought in as each victim was tended to and Aurors took down their details. Personal details, contacts for next of kin, and whether they were magically informed.

Once all the victims were secured, Portkeys were made to transport them to Saint Mungo's for further treatment and recovery. Despite her condition, Granger had taken the lead to help any and all the victims as best she could until a mediwitch literally forced her to rest.

"So they're all dead?" Pyrrha asked as she stood next to Alkaid and surveyed the scene of controlled madness.

"I made sure of it." The daughter of Hades coldly stated. "I should have dragged it out, but we had the victims to think about. I wish they had mortal souls though, I want to torture them properly."

"I get what you mean." Pyrrha agreed. "Hmm. It looks like things are wrapping up here."

It was true, the victims were being Portkeyed out with Hermione being the last escorted out by a stern looking mediwitch.

Alkaid nodded. "Let's give our statements and head home. I want to get out of here as soon as possible."

"Yeah, I miss Mina." Pyrrha nodded in agreement.

Waving over one of the many Aurors still milling about the scene, Alkaid prepared to get this done with. After yet another trying mission that showed her the depraved depths of the world, the daughter of Hades really wanted some time with her family to recover.

* * *

After a few days, the couple received a letter from Granger asking to meet up in London. Concerned about the woman's condition after her ordeal, the couple readily agreed to the meeting.

Mina had wanted to come along, but neither demigoddess felt that their old schoolmate was in any condition to handle being introduced to their murderous little girl and so had decided to have her stay home instead. She had been pouty that she could not come, but after a promise of ice cream she was pacified. That and a promise from Alecto to teach her about another whole set of torture techniques that the Fury had developed in her long service as one of the Lord of the Underworld's chief torturers. Her daughter was just such a sucker for learning to better her craft.

Honestly, Alkaid was at once proud, bemused and worried by it. Proud that Mina was taking her self-improvement so seriously. Bemused and worried about how easy this desire could be used to bribe her to do things.

It was a problem to consider another time though and as she and Pyrrha arrived at a quaint little cafe, the daughter of Hades focused back onto the matter at hand. Her old friend, Hermione Granger.

The bushy haired woman was already there waiting for them. She was glancing at a menu as the couple walked up to the table.

 _She's acting perfectly normal. I would think she'd be a sputtering mess right now._ Alkaid mused, clearly impressed with the Gryffindor.

"Hello, Granger. How are you doing?" Alkaid asked as she and Pyrrha sat down across from her.

"Sup." Her lover waved as she grabbed one of the menus.

Placing the menu down, the bushy haired girl smiled lightly, "Hello, Alkaid, Pyrrha. I'm doing well. The Calming Draughts and the few other potions I was prescribed are doing wonders."

"That's a good bandage for now, but they don't heal anything." Alkaid frowned as she glanced at Pyrrha's menu to pick something to eat.

"I know." Hermione agreed. "I've also been talking to mind healers. It's just- Well, even with distracting myself helping the other victims, I can't function without the potions."

Looking up sharply from her menu at the mortal, a worried Pyrrha asked. "What do you mean?"

Alkaid shot her lover a warning look, but Granger waved it away.

"It's fine, Alkaid. I'm fine talking about it." The Ministry employee assured them. "And my healers says talking about it helps too. So, really, I'm okay with it."

"If you're sure." Alkaid replied uncertainty.

"I'm sure." Granger said with a small but confident smile. "But why don't we order first."

The demigoddesses agreed and they waved down a waiter to place their orders.

"To answer your question, Pyrrha," Granger said as they waited for their orders. "Without the potions, all I want to do is curl up in a dark corner where no one can find me and cry."

Tears began to gather in the corner of her eyes but the bushy haired woman just rubbed them away and continued.

"The potions make me feel less scared. They don't take all the fear away but most of it, and that gives my confidence a boost too. I still feel the urge to look over my shoulder all the time and to finger my wand every few seconds, but they make it so I can resist the urges. Mostly." The woman concluded as her left hand traced the shape of a wand holster strapped to her right forearm.

Alkaid winced at Hermione's description of her current state of mind. She couldn't imagine how terrible it must be for anyone to have to live like that.

"That sucks." Pyrrha succinctly summarized their thoughts on the matter. "Hope you get better soon."

"Thank you. Though that's not what I wanted to talk to you about."

"Then what _did_ you want to discuss?" Alkaid asked in genuine confusion. She had no idea what else Granger would have to talk to her about.

Their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of their orders and the women took a break from their heavy discussion to eat choosing instead to talk about more mundane topics like what their mutual friends were doing lately in the meantime.

As they finished their meal however, they picked up where they left off.

"As I was saying earlier, I want to talk about Second Year and what you did to me." Granger said shooting Alkaid a look that was a mix of gratitude, anger and a range of other emotions that the daughter of Hades could not identify.

"How?" Alkaid asked quietly even as Pyrrha looked between the two women in confusion.

"The trauma of what happened, I'd guess." Granger said as she fidgeted uncomfortably at the mention of her time with the centaurs. "It must have jogged my memory somehow. After I got home from St. Mungo's, I started to recall what happened during our Second year."

The daughter of Hades folded in on herself, looking down at the table. _The effect of the Mist faded away? How did that even happen?_

She felt Granger grab her hand and squeeze it tightly, "Thank you, Alkaid."

Looking up, Alkaid's emerald eyes met Granger's soft brown ones. "What?"

"If you hadn't done that, make me forget what happened, I wouldn't have been able to handle it." Granger smiled kindly at her, "So thank you very much. For saving me twice."

"I, um-"

"Though I must say I am still upset that you were so cavalier with manipulating my memory!" Granger scolded her sternly, through her eyes still reflected acceptance.

"I acted as an Obliviator would. Simple as that."

"Hm, fair point." The bushy haired girl grudgingly accepted.

Pyrrha looked between the two, looking like she wanted to ask something but held her tongue.

Granger flashed a smile, "Keep in touch?"

"Really?" Alkaid asked.

"While we have a bit of a complicated history and our personalities definitely clashes too much to be true friends, I think we can still be acquaintances."

"O-Of course, Hermione…" Alkaid said, and she felt a touch lighter somehow.

"Good!"

Recomposing herself, the daughter of Hades asked, "What do you plan on doing now?"

Leaning against her seat, Hermione hummed, "Well, I will still work for equal rights in the Wizarding World. Though I won't be so naive about it anymore. If a magical race wants rights, they best be ready to conform to _human_ standards of morality."

"Some won't." Alkaid pointed out lowly.

A dangerous look flashed across Hermione's eyes and her hand fingered her hidden wand.

"True, but if they don't, perhaps it's time that someone _pressed_ the issue."

Pyrrha finally found her voice as she said, "Yeah, well, wizarding morality and modern morality is pretty different too. You want someone to press _that_ issue?"

Hermione shrugged, "That's changing. Especially after the recent shows of force by the Muggles and the changes they have been pushing us to make. I happen to agree with many of their suggestions though. There'll always be differences of course, but soon most of it will just be cosmetic I think. In fact, I'm currently looking into if they have any job opportunities. Maybe I can help them out."

"It's a noble goal." The emerald eyed woman pointed out. "If you need me, just know you have my support."

"Thank you, Alkaid. I will remember that, always." Hermione smiled happily at her.

* * *

 **Omake: The Monster Called Jealousy**

Portkeying back into the living room of their home from the meetup with Hermione, Pyrrha immediately turned to Alkaid with a cross look on her face.

"What the shit was she talking about, Alkaid? You Misted her, I know, but what for?"

"Pyrrha, I can't talk about it. It's not something that Granger would want me to talk about." Alkaid said apologetically. "I'd be happy to share it, but I'd need to get Granger's permission first."

"Oh this is typical of you! You always bend over backwards for that girl. How is she worth that? Huh?" The redhead snapped, getting right into her girlfriend's face.

Alkaid blinked as her mind whirled to figure out what had her lover so upset.

"Wait. Are you jealous?" The daughter of Hades asked incredulously.

"What?" Pyrrha scoffed at this and crossed her arms, "I just know your tastes is all."

A hurt and nervous look was on the normally confident warrior girl's face. It was a sight Alkaid didn't like at all on her fiery lover.

The brunette sighed in frustration and pulled her lover close by holding her cheeks, before she hungrily crashed her lips against Pyrrha's.

"I only," Alkaid said as she pulled away for a moment before diving in for another heated kiss.

"Want," Another searing kiss was exchanged.

"You!" The daughter of Hades finished and pulled her lover into a long passionate kiss.

* * *

In the stairwell just off the living room, Mina was struggling with her nanny Alecto on the landing. She had heard her mummies arguing and had wanted to run in to intervene. She hated the idea that her mummies were fighting.

Unfortunately, Alecto didn't agree and had tackled her when she'd tried to run down the stairs to rush into the living room.

"Calm down, Lady Mina!" Alecto hissed. "This is for your mothers to settle on their own. You need to be a good girl and let them do so."

Mina just continued to struggle. As much as she wanted to be a good girl, she didn't want that to be at the expense of her mummies being angry at each other. And she was totally sure they would stop fighting if she went into the room and that she could definitely help them talk out whatever got them so upset too.

"Calm down, Lady Mina! Please!" Alecto begged as their struggle grew more violent.

* * *

Flustered and dazed from the brief, but passionate makeout session, Pyrrha shyly looked to the side and muttered, "S-Sorry. I just, got all worked up because I don't want to lose you, 'Kaidy. I love you, you know? Like, legit I'm head over heels for you."

Smiling fondly at her, her thumbs stroking her cheeks, Alkaid pressed her lips against her forehead and brought her in for a tight hug.

"I know. In fact, I promise to show you how much I love you. _All_ weekend long. And I intend to use _every_ minute of that time for you and you alone."

Pyrrha's face turned as scarlet as her hair, but still smiled at the idea.

* * *

 **Done and done! Thanks to the team of Nameless and Axios as always.**

 **Phew, a pretty heavy chapter huh? Still, out of all our Hermiones, I like this one the best. She might be annoying, she might be a know-it-all, but hey, she's still the brains behind Potter in canon. Even if she's a self-insert.**

 **Nameless: And a minor Mary Sue.**

 **So, Alkaid has a run in with another herd of Centaurs, she just doesn't have luck with these guys huh? Still, I think she was subbing them for Chiron since she's still irked with the old guy.**

 **Nameless: So we dealt with dark subject matter this chapter again with the centaurs and how they kidnapped women to use as broodmares. Which is an actual part of their myths, though admittedly this is not consistently true over time. But hey, these are monstrous centaurs so why not make them live up to the darkest aspects of their myth. Well, we did say that we'd be pursuing dark content wouldn't we? Hope you guys don't mind.**

 **Well, you know what to do! Smash that review button and tell us what you love! No flames and peace off my peeps!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson or Harry Potter.**

 **Consul of the Underworld: Grinding Phase**

 **Chapter Nine: Matriarchy and Boy!**

 **Beta: ShadowofAxios**

* * *

Alkaid had found some free time in her busy schedule and had thus decided to make arrangements with her cousin Percy to meet up so she could check up on him. As such, it was on a windy Fall day that she pulled up in front of Meriwether College Prep in a brand new Chevrolet Corvette that she'd rented for the occasion. She'd have used one of her own cars but the maintenance and storage costs of keeping one in New York when she lived in California meant it made little sense to have one in the city.

The fact that she didn't own the flashy sports car didn't detract from the impression she was aiming to make though, as the majority of the teenagers that had been trickling out of the building stopped to stare.

Percy was no exception.

"Hello Percy. Done staring?" She teased with a playful smile.

"H-huh. Yeah. Where did you get the car?"

"My credit card." Alkaid said airily. "Now get in would you? I don't want to get a ticket."

"S-Sure." Percy nodded and entered the amazing looking car. He stared out the window at the kids in his school as they looked back enviously. A small smile came to his face as he buckled up.

"So how have you been?" Alkaid asked, pretending to be oblivious to how she'd just elevated Percy's social status in his school by several notches.

"I've been good. No monster attacks. Math's a nightmare though." The green eyed boy told her with a shrug. "Mom's been doing great at college. So how are you? Haven't seen you since last Fall."

"Busy." Alkaid confessed. "School takes up a lot of time, then there's taking care of Mina. I love both but it does leave me with very little free time."

"Right. I heard about that. Um, congrats?" He said, clearly unsure what to say about the fact that a goddess had demanded she adopt her.

"Thank you." Alkaid replied with a smile, ignoring his hesitance. "Having Mina in our lives has been absolutely wonderful for Pyrrha and I."

"That's great. How's she doing? I mean, Pyrrha. She's doing okay, right?"

"She's doing well." Alkaid said as she came to a stop at a red light. "She goes to Camp with Mina regularly. I go when I'm not too tired from classes but when you have cross state transportation magic, why not abuse it?"

"Magic is bullshit, you know that right?" The son of Poseidon whined. "I mean you guys live on the opposite side of the country and use it to commute to Camp everyday? That's totally bullshit."

"Are you just realizing this?" Alkaid giggled, causing the boy's cheeks to go pink. "Besides, you could go to Camp on the weekends too. I don't see why you're complaining."

"Well, magic is spoiling you it seems if you think that's a good idea." Percy shot back. "Monsters lurk around Camp all the time. They're attracted to it like moths to a flame. If I made such regular trips, I'm just asking them to turn me into a snack sooner or later."

"So? Just kill them. You're stronger than you think, Percy." She told him as she continued to drive down West 48th.

Percy just shook his head.

"It only takes one time Alkaid. I don't know what it's like for you growing up in the Underworld, but for the rest of us? Chiron always says we shouldn't take unnecessary risks. And I've gotta agree with him."

Alkaid blinked. That actually made a great deal of sense. Heck, it even sounded almost wise.

"Mm, true. My upbringing was different. Still, Father made me do all sorts of tasks when I was your age."

Her cousin shrugged.

"Were those things that your dad _needed_ you to do?"

"He needed _someone_ to do it at least." Alkaid said with a chuckle. "He didn't have many agents though, so I suppose so?"

Percy shot her a triumphant look.

"Alright, you win. I can see where you're coming from though. I guess I didn't consider how things would be like for a normal demigod."

"Thank you."

The brunette smirked at his cheek. Why couldn't he be like this all the time? Oh, right. It's because he had been beaten down and told he'd never amount to anything by almost every adult his whole life until he discovered his heritage. Just like most demigods.

Was it any wonder their divine sire was so important to them? For good or ill?

"We're here." Percy declared as Alkaid turned onto his block. "Wait for me a bit and I'll be right back. I just need to drop my school stuff off and we can head off somewhere to hang out."

"Do you have any homework?"

"Um, yeah? But I can do it tonight."

Alkaid shot him a disapproving look out of the corner of her eye even as she looked around for a place to park.

"We can hang out _after_ you finish your homework."

"But-"

"You're not weaseling out of this, Perseus Jackson. Your school work is important." Alkaid insisted, even as she relented a little at seeing her cousin's pout. "If it'll make you feel better I'll help you with it."

Sighing in defeat, the son of Poseidon just nodded.

* * *

When they entered their apartment, Mom freaked out when she met Alkaid. His cousin was confused as well until his Mom reminded her of how they had first met.

Alkaid looked a shade embarrassed, admitting she thought his Mom was just a regular mortal. Still, he was thankful for Alkaid saving his Mom from becoming a zombie of all things. He could not believe there was almost a zombie apocalypse here in New York.

 _Man things were so much easier when I didn't know I was a half-blood._ Percy sighed.

Still, his Mom was very nervous around Alkaid, even when his cousin acted as polite as could be. Even going as far as to use her magic to spruce up the apartment as an apology for scaring the frazzled woman.

His Mom had calmed down after that thankfully and served them some of her cookies as they worked on Percy's homework. Surprisingly the homework wasn't anywhere as tedious as it usually was when Alkaid was there to help him with it.

Or maybe that was because she'd decided to reward him with dinner at some fancy restaurant for finishing it. They'd invited Mum to come along, but she'd refused saying she needed to work on a project for one of her college classes.

Deciding to make it a family outing, Alkaid waved her hand in the air and conjured a rainbow. Tossing a drachma in, she called her girlfriend.

"Hey Py, want to join Percy and I for dinner?"

" _Sounds good. I'll bring Mina along, that okay?"_

Alkaid shot him a look and Percy just nodded. He wasn't entirely sure if he was comfortable with having dinner with the crazy goddess but he didn't want to offend Alkaid.

"It's fine, Py. I'll meet Mina and you at the restaurant we went to last time."

" _Alright. LaPiazza?"_

"Yes."

" _See you in fifteen."_

Dismissing the rainbow, Alkaid turned to him with a chipper look. "Now let's go."

Percy nodded as they headed downstairs to her car. Once buckled up, they headed towards the restaurant.

The drive there was largely uneventful with them chatting about mundane topics like how he was doing in school. Namely terribly, though that wasn't anything new. Thanks to the dyslexia and ADHD he had for being a demigod, school had always been tough for him.

Curious about whether she had the some trouble, he had asked her how she was doing in college.

"It's going well, my classes aren't too difficult but there are a few times I had to study harder than usual."

"Must be nice to be smart." He said, sounding more bitter than he thought he'd be.

Alkaid looked at him with a frown.

"Percy, everyone has their own strengths. You might not be good at academics, but you're a great fighter."

Percy just snorted.

"Yeah, and thanks to your magic you're better."

"And that's _my_ skill. You can swing a blade better than I ever could. If I'd been forced to fight Ares like you did, he probably would have killed me. Even though he was holding back more than I thought he needed to."

"Holding back!?"

Alkaid sighed as she made a left turn.

"I've explained this before, Percy. Gods are bound by Ancient Laws to hold back when they're challenged by mortals, even demigods. They peg the power they use to how powerful their challenger is so that they actually have a chance."

Percy just looked at her with wide eyes. "Why would they do that?"

"Mainly so they can say everything was fair when they end up killing another god's favorite."

Percy's shoulders slumped.

"You still won, so take that away at least." Alkaid said consolingly.

It was a good attempt, but his throat felt dry as he thought back to the fight on Santa Monica beach.

They drove in silence for a few minutes. He was busy processing the fact that what he'd accomplished in L.A. wasn't as impressive as he'd thought it had been. It was sobering. But at the same time tore at his fragile self-esteem, reminding him like so many people had over the years that he wasn't really as great as he thought he was. Not that he'd ever really believed he was all that grand. Still, after defeating a god…

He'd thought he'd finally achieved something cool. But now...

The son of Poseidon couldn't help but feel like he'd been behaving like an upstart all along and that made him feel terrible.

"This is getting ridiculous." Alkaid noted with an annoyed sigh as they circled the block a third time. "Percy, know any places to park around here?"

Pulled away from his self-deprecating thoughts, Percy thought about the question for a bit.

"Um, there should be a parking lot a couple of blocks away. We can walk from there?" He suggested to her after a moment. "It's a pretty nice walk around here."

"Mm, very well." Alkaid pouted as she turned the wheel and they backtracked a few blocks.

Once parked, they headed towards their desired location. Percy, being the resident New Yorker, decided to play tour guide.

"So this street is pretty famous for its shops. Mum says there's loads of pretty good clothing shops here." He said while gesturing grandly towards the row of boutiques they were walking past.

Giggling, Alkaid sent him a small smile that made her look very pretty. "I've come here often, Percy. I drag Py here all the time when we have a break. LaPiazza is our favourite restaurant."

"Oh." Percy said dumbly as he blushed in embarrassment.

He was thankfully saved from making more of a fool of himself when a sudden roar resounded through the air around them.

Both demigods spun in the direction of the gods awful screech and spotted a large dragon diving towards them in an attack run.

The flying lizard was a behemoth that was bigger than a greyhound bus. Its scales were emerald green, with a few bronze scales on the underside of his neck, a yellow-orange colored tail and wings, and was covered in black frills and spikes.

Percy felt his heart skip a beat at the awe inspiring monster.

Sure, he'd heard about them while in Camp. Still, what kid wouldn't be awed by seeing one of the formerly - in his mind - fable reptiles. Though in an ADHD moment, he wondered what the Mist was making the mortals see? An airplane coming down? A falling water tower?

It was then that his instincts kicked him in the butt and told him to _move_.

Percy darted backwards, getting some space from the direct path of dragon's strafing run. Its maw opened to reveal a faint glow that quickly grew in intensity as a prelude to the gout of flames that it spewed out at them.

Percy looked for a fire hydrant to use, but his cousin just walked in front of him.

Sighing in irritation, Alkaid raised a hand and incanted a spell, " **Mirror Alice."**

Suddenly a massive two storey mirror materialized in between the dragon's fire and them. As the breath weapon hit the looking glass, it was reflected back at the monster. Well, most of it anyways, as some of the flames were instead deflected and washed over the corner store.

"I really have to work on that spell's problem with deflections." Alkaid muttered as she eyed the overpriced clothing boutique go up in flames. "I liked that store."

"Um, Alkaid? Maybe worry about that later?" Percy said nervously as he pointed at the dragon which was now circling around to make another pass.

"Yes. I must make its death painful now." The tall woman sighed. "Hmm… I've got it. It can be my demonstration dummy for a lesson I've been meaning to teach you. Percy!"

"Yes?" The boy startled at suddenly being addressed.

"You're not really familiar with fighting magicians are you?"

"Not really. Why?" Percy asked as the dragon let out a roar as it came by for another run. Seeing it coming closer, Alkaid raised her hand in the air as it began glowing with green energy.

"Then let me teach you some of the basics. There are generally speaking only two types of magical combat: direct and subtle. Direct magic is like this. **Divine Buster.** "

To the son of Poseidon's awe, a massive beam of green energy shot from a magic circle that materialized in front of his cousin and sent the dragon crashing into the side of a nearby skyscraper.

He winced at the sight. Percy prayed the Mist didn't do something crazy to explain that away.

"See, a more direct means of combat is simply throwing spells like that around." Alkaid explained in a lecturing fashion, as if they were back in Yancy. "Now, the second form is a more subtle means of using magic. A good example would be curses or hexes and weaving them into or immediately after other spells."

A roar signaled that the dragon had recovered from its abrupt meeting with the side of a building. Turning towards it, Percy saw that it was clinging to the side of the skyscraper and was taking a deep breath. With its long serpentine neck bent back and its throat swollen and glowing red, it didn't take a genius to guess what it had planned.

"Here let me give you a practical demonstration. **Frost Nova."** Alkaid finished chanting just as the dragon breathed out a river of fire. Her spell unleashed winter onto the city months ahead of schedule in the form of a wave of white light. The spell briefly battled with the monster's inferno before smothering it.

The freezing attack washed over the dragon too but it just roared and a fiery aura seemed to enshroud it for a moment that fought off the cold. That did nothing for the sickly blue aura that had been hidden within the cold spell's own light show and it settled on the flying lizard even as it tried to lash out at it.

The moment that it did, the dragon roared in agony and fell from the building. It landed with a thud, luckily avoiding crushing any mortals in the process. It writhed in clear pain and let out tormented bellows.

Percy was confused. How in the world does ice make a dragon act like that?

"I embedded my spell with a curse. The dragon countered the Frost Nova with its own aura of heat but the curse still managed to hit its target." The sorceress explained with a pleasant smile that did not match with the dark satisfaction in her tone.

It was kind of worrying. Was she honestly getting a kick out of torturing the poor monster?

With a simple flick of her wrist, a bolt of darkness lanced from her hand. It pierced the dragon's skull with a sickening crack and it stopped moving. As it turned to dust, Alkaid continued her explanation as if her brutal kill was inconsequential.

"The former is a lot simpler and more common. I could have killed the dragon with a single powerful attack spell. That's what I usually would have done."

"Why?" Percy found himself asking despite his growing discomfort with the whole situation.

"Simple. If I focused on more subtle magicks I would have had to use twice as many spells, twice the magical energy, and thrice the effort."

Knitting his brow, he processed the words.

"So it's like just hitting it with a big stick instead of trying to take it down with… um… What's the saying? Oh right! Instead of taking it down with a thousand cuts?" Percy asked, inwardly beaming with pride at having remembered one of the sayings Annabeth was so fond of using whenever she tried to teach him tactics. Unlike his cousin, the daughter of Athena was quite a fan of the tactic associated with the saying.

"A magical stick, but a big stick nonetheless." She nodded, a proud smile on her face directed at him. "So any questions?"

The son of the seas would really have preferred to just leave, he was getting really uneasy about standing there next to the site of a brutally one sided killing of a monster, but the expectant look on Alkaid's face had him scrambling for something halfway intelligent to ask.

"Well, uh, which type of magic do you like to use more?" He asked, unsure what else he was supposed to do.

"Like I say, I tend to favour direct magic." Alkaid said with a proud smile. "I've experimented with using subtle magic in battle and still do sometimes, but overall like most magic users I can't keep it up. Only supremely powerful casters with absolutely no consideration for stamina and magical reserves can possibly use it as their main mode of combat."

"So like gods?"

"Pretty much. Though there are other beings who fit the bill. Beings like them are why I chose to focus on direct magic actually."

Percy just shot her a confused look, even as she waved her hand distractedly and unleashed a wave of heat that eliminated every trace of the winterscape she'd created earlier.

"Unfortunately I deal with them a lot more often than I'd like and they would just shrug off any attempts at subtle magic I could use. Relying on it would be a waste of time and magic while in combat."

The daughter of Hades paused to observe her handiwork and after nodding in satisfaction, began to walk towards the restaurant even as she picked up on her explanation once more.

"One of my acquaintances has encouraged and tried to teach me to use more subtle magic. At her urging, I've incorporated it more into my repertoire. I even tried to emulate her and her subtle magic based style for a time. Though considering who my opponents are, it doesn't feature much. Plus trying to learn more subtle magic and working it into my skillset would take too much time away from my studies into the types of magic I usually prefer and are most useful to me."

"I see." The boy said nervously even as he imagined how much scarier Alkaid could be if she learned even more devastating spells. She was terrifying enough as is, thank you very much!

Oblivious to his thoughts, the walking magical artillery battery offered him a pleasant smile. "So any other questions?"

"Not really…"

"Very good. Hm, as homework, think on this little nugget. How would you go about fighting a spellcaster of either type? I'm most eager to hear what you come up with." She said with a gentle giggle.

Percy just swallowed nervously and nodded.

Unbeknownst to the then still young son of Poseidon, Alkaid would be the least of the terrifying beings he'd meet in the coming years. In fact, in a matter of years he'd look back on how nervous he had been on this day with fond exasperation at just how naive he had been. That was however still in the future and for now at least, he tried his best holding himself together as he headed off to dinner with what he believed might be the most unnerving member of his family.

* * *

Watching from a nearby rooftop as the two children of the Big Three headed off for dinner, the strongest demigod son of Hecate, Alabaster Torrington, frowned.

"She _toyed_ with it." He hissed incredulously. "That was one of our strongest dragons and she just treated it like a dummy to teach Jackson how magicians fight."

He'd known the daughter of Hades was a powerful sorceress. His mother had told him as much, but he'd never imagined she was _this_ powerful. This was insane and bordering on the things he'd believed were reserved for the realm of legends like the fabled Sorcerers Supreme.

"Now _how_ are we going to get rid of her?"

The need to remove her from the equation had never been in doubt, not when the mere presence of that accursed daughter of hers tipped the balance of any attack they could launch on Camp Half-Blood completely in the Olympians' favour. But with how powerful the damnable woman herself was, that was going to be no easy feat.

"I've got to rethink this." Alabaster conceded with a frown. "The direct approach isn't going to work. It's time to be subtle."

Fortunately Hecate and her children were masters of being subtle.

* * *

It was Halloween night and Alkaid had been invited by Percy and his mum to visit and spend the night watching horror movies.

"Mel, why are you being a tagalong? You weren't invited." Alkaid asked in exasperation as her godly sister smirked back at her.

"I'm a goddess. I don't need an invitation." The goddess of ghosts replied easily. "Besides, this holiday is practically in _my_ name. So I should get to do what I want, so why not hang out with my widdle baby sis?"

At the cutesy voice, Alkaid rolled her eyes.

"Does that mean I don't need invitations before I visit people?" Mina asked her mothers, her head tilted to the side curiously.

"No. You should still be invited. Don't be rude like your auntie." Alkaid told her daughter.

Melinoe huffed. "Whatever. I'm just the fun one here."

"That's your opinion and yours alone." Pyrrha said as she walked into the living room of their home that they were all gathered in. The redhead was dressed up as Xena, Warrior Princess, complete with the oversexualized armor that made her look absolutely delectable.

 _We are having some fun in that later._ Alkaid smiled as she drank in the sight.

"Man, all of you are being so boring. Where's the Halloween spirit? Where's your fun?"

"Mama! You look so pretty!" Mina declared as she spun around her mother to look at Pyrrha's costume from every angle.

"You look very pretty too, squirt."

Alkaid couldn't agree more. Mina was dressed up like Princess Aurora from Sleeping Beauty complete with magically dyed golden blonde hair and a fancy ball gown.

"Hehe~!" Mina spun around, looking at her costume as if it were made of gold.

"I still think she'd look better as a ghost." Melinoe snorted.

"Cliche much?" Alkaid teased her sister. "Then again, considered you're dressed up as yourself, it might actually be an improvement."

"Hey, you can't mess with perfection." The goddess of ghosts said with a proud smirk as she gestured at her translucent ethereal Greek armor.

"And you're so much better, Alkaid?" Pyrrha teased. "I mean, Zatanna? Really?"

Tipping her top hat, Alkaid smirked. "I'm a nerd at heart. Besides, it's sexy. You can't deny that."

Alkaid had indeed chosen to dress up as DC's famous magician superheroine. She was dressed in a what could be described as a sexy Las Vegas magician. Her curvaceous frame was sheathed in a white dress shirt, bow tie and gloves, a low cut yellow vest, a black blazer, black shorts, gray stockings and black boots reaching midway up her calves.

"She loved dressing up as her when she was little too." Melinoe grinned. "That or fantasy elves."

"Tell me more." Pyrrha said with a teasing wink at the demigoddess of Hades.

"Me too! Me too!" Mina added in, jumping up and down excitedly.

"We don't want to be late." Alkaid said in a serious tone, though her cheeks were dusted pink.

The goddess' eyes lit up with mischief and nodded. "Another day perhaps. For now, let's get going."

"Aw~!" Mina whined in disappointment even as Melinoe built up her power and summoned the shadows to cover all of them.

"One Melinoe Express trip coming right up!" Alkaid's sister declared as the shadows took hold of them and carried them across the country and to the Jacksons' apartment in New York City.

* * *

"Oh, Mina's tummy feels weird." The little goddess moaned as they walked up the stairs of the Jacksons' building and headed towards their apartment.

Alkaid rubbed her daughter's back, "That's just you getting used to Shadow Travel. It passes."

"If it's still feeling rumbly, we can ask Miss Jackson for some antacids." Pyrrha suggested.

Melinoe snorted at the suggestion.

"Did you two forget that she's a goddess? Sheesh." Turning to her niece, the goddess of ghosts continued. "Just use your powers to settle your stomach. I'm sure Dionysus has taught you how to do something as simple as that already."

The little serial killer blinked for a moment before nodding. A dirty grey glow surrounded her for a moment before she gave a relieved sigh.

"All better!" The young goddess declared. "Thanks Auntie Mel!"

The older divinity was startled for a moment at the girl's enthusiasm but seemed to roll with it as she nodded dismissively.

 _Well, at least she's trying._ Alkaid noted. Ever since she'd adopted Mina, her sisters had been uncomfortable with her. For very good reasons considering her history, she admitted. That said, in the interest of not creating a rift between them both Melinoe and Makaria had been doing their best lately to not be so antagonistic to her daughter. Or her lover for that matter. Though considering Makaria was still banning Mina from visiting Elysium, it was still a work in progress.

Pyrrha walked up to the apartment entrance and pressed the button labeled _Jackson_. "Trick or treat, ya little swimmer."

Melinoe snickered at the 'playful' insult while Alkaid sighed. Mina just looked confused but her eyes widened in amused realization as Mel leaned down to whisper into her ears, much to Alkaid's displeasure.

 _Great. I'll bet that it's going to be something I'll need to explain to her at bedtime again._

" _Yeah yeah, come on in."_

The door buzzed open and the small family headed inside. They were greeted by a sulking Jackson dressed up as Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean. Alkaid could understand his displeasure, he looked ridiculous. Wherever he'd gotten the costume from had likely ripped him off. While it made him look recognizably like Johnny Depp's famous character, it also made him look terrible.

"Please. No comments." There was a twinge of pain in his tone.

"Hush, Percy. It's your own fault for trying to get it on discount." The boy's mother chided as she came over to offer her greetings.

As they all exchanged pleasantries, Alkaid noted that unlike her son, her costume was much more flattering. She'd chosen to dress up as Keira Knightley's Elizabeth Swann. The elaborate Victorian style ball gown she wore to impersonate the fictional Governor's daughter left no doubt as to why she'd garnered her uncle's romantic attentions.

"Hello Alkaid, and company…" She trailed off as she looked at Melinoe and Mina. She was clearly nervous at the presence of the two goddesses, which caused the ghost of the evening to grin.

"I get why Uncle likes her. Clear Sights are getting rarer and rarer nowadays." Melinoe stated, looking the woman up and down.

Alkaid nudged her shoulder. "Behave. Please?"

Mina held up a large pillowcase, "Treat or die!"

"Trick or treat." Pyrrha corrected their daughter.

"But it's more fun to kill!" The goddess of serial killers whined.

"Gotta agree with ya there, tyke." Mel chimed in unhelpfully. "Then you can loot all their treats too."

Alkaid swatted her sister's arm. "Mel!"

"Fine. Be a party pooper." The goddess pouted as her bangles jingled when she crossed her arms.

"I'll make it up to you later?"

"Oh. I got a whole bunch of after hour stuff for us." The goddess smiled lecherously. "The amazon here can join too."

Pyrrha looked somewhat peeved at the suggestion, making Alkaid rub her forehead in annoyance.

"Can I join in too?" Mina asked. "I like parties."

"When you're older, maybe." Mel said hastily, as she eyed her sister warily.

"So it's _that_ kinda party." Mina said with a pout as Miss Jackson led them to the living room. "I thought it was actually gonna be something fun."

"Hey! I'll have you know it's plenty fun."

"Mel!"

"Right. Sorry." The goddess said abashed.

"Percy, stop staring." Alkaid heard Miss Jackson whisper to her son, causing the daughter of Hades to turn to her former student curiously.

He was busily wiping his hand over his mouth and looking away, his cheeks burning brilliantly with a blush. He was also quite insistently looking away from her. It seemed someone had been a little too appreciative of her costume.

Considering this was the effect she'd been aiming for, Alkaid was quite pleased with his reaction.

"Sorry about them, Miss Jackson." Pyrrha said with a strained smile. "They always get like this."

"It's fine, Pyrrha." The beautiful older woman replied with a rueful smile at Pyrrha's insistence at addressing her so formally. The mortal had tried to get them both to call her by name when they'd first set up this get together but they had both insisted that it was impolite. Alkaid was actually quite impressed that her lover managed to hold true to that. There was hope for her as a diplomat after all.

"Percy isn't much better. Why don't we all sit down and get started? We won't get through all the movies we have planned if we don't hurry."

"Sounds like a good idea." Alkaid said, guiding Mina to the couch. Her daughter poutily waved her empty pillow sheet. "We'll have lots of candy. Don't worry."

"I want caramels. No, no butterscotch! Or, er, um." Mina looked confused as Alkaid sat down and she scurried onto her mother's lap. "Oh! Something with nuts."

"Nothing with nuts. Sorry." Miss Jackson said as she produced a large bowl of candy. "Just in case someone has an allergy to nuts."

"Aw. Okay. Cupcake?" Mina offered the woman, as she pulled the pastry out of nowhere.

"Why thank you."

As the group settled down for a marathon of horror movies, Alkaid cuddled with her daughter and surveyed the group. Melinoe was getting on surprisingly well with Miss Jackson, the two chatting amiably as the opening of John Carpenter's original _Halloween_ played on the mortal's TV. Meanwhile, Pyrrha and Percy were kicking back some soda as they chatted about Camp.

Seeing everything going so smoothly, the daughter of Hades smiled happily as she ate a Milky Way. It was wonderful that her family and friends were getting along so well.

* * *

"What am I even watching?" Alabaster frowned from a nearby rooftop.

He had been doing his best to tail the daughter of Hades for the past few weeks. Attempting to see how exactly he'd be able to complete his mission and drag her away from Camp so that she wouldn't interfere with their plans.

"Such a waste of time. How carefree is this woman?"

It boggled his mind how a woman with her responsibilities could find the time to waste having a movie marathon. Especially considering how he, with only a fraction of the pressures on his time, was running himself ragged just keeping himself afloat.

 _I'm not jealous. Not at the fact that she's a better magician than I am, nor that she somehow manages her time better than I can. Not that she has a loving family. None of that. There's absolutely nothing for me to be jealous of. Nothing at all._

Continuing to look on as the woman enjoyed herself, his hand unconsciously tightened into a fist.

* * *

Winter was just around the corner when Pyrrha informed Alkaid that her mother had finally insisted that her daughter bring her lover and daughter to visit her for introductions. The daughter of Hades had been unaware but apparently Pyrrha's mum had been trying to convince her to do so for months and in the case of introducing Alkaid for years. The daughter of war however had been hesitant to do so for some reason.

"So I'm meeting Mama's Mama?" Mina asked as she held both her mothers' hands and they strolled up the suburban Cardiff street to Pyrrha's childhood home.

"Yep. Be sure to call her Granny a lot alright?" Pyrrha asked with a smirk.

"Mm!" Mina nodded happily.

Alkaid giggled a bit, though she was feeling a little nervous herself.

"So why haven't we met her yet?" The daughter of Hades asked teasingly, knowing the answer well. It was after all not the first time that she'd asked this question.

"Mum's, well, how can I put this?" Pyrrha said with an ashamed blush on her face. "She's weird. She's like so totally not like me at all. I honestly dunno what dad sees in her."

Mina blinked in confusion.

"She's not nice?"

"No, no." Pyrrha said with a shake of her head. "She's really nice. Like super nice! Which is why she's weird. I mean you know how I am. How the hell is she my mum?"

"That _is_ weird." Alkaid commented. As far as she knew, Ares loved the rough and tough woman that was as crass as himself. At least when it came to his mortal lovers anyway.

"Then she'll like muffins." Mina giggled excitedly as she made a basket appear out of nowhere.

"What are you? The little goddess of baked goods?" Pyrrha teased, ruffling Mina's silvery hair.

"Nah. That's Betty 'Petty' Crocker. She's a meanie. Always says my pastries smell of blood." Mina said with a pout. "She doesn't even try them."

"Her loss then." Alkaid reassured her daughter even as she briefly boggled at the idea that there really was a goddess of baked goods. _Seriously? Betty Crocker? Next thing I know there'll be an Internet god._

"Yeah, screw her." Pyrrha said with an aggressive snarl. "The next time you meet her, let me know and I'll punch her teeth in."

"No! She has cupcakes of doom! They make you super fat!" Mina hissed like a serpent.

"Sounds scary, but I'll just blow them up." Alkaid reassured her daughter. "She won't be able to take us on."

"Then stabby stab." The little killer said as she flashed one of her many, many knives.

Knives that Alkaid had come to learn after consulting a visibly disturbed Baba Yaga about them held within them the concept of death itself, thus giving them the ability to make sure _anything_ they killed stayed dead. At least for a while. Immortals like the old witch would get better eventually, but even the prospect of a short time dead scared the hell out of her and according to her most immortals too.

Learning that had elicited odd feelings from Alkaid. On one hand, it made her irrationally proud of how powerful her daughter was despite having no part in that strength. On the other hand, it terrified her that she had once been on the verge of being killed with something that powerful.

She was pulled out of her thoughts as they finally arrived at Pyrrha's mum's house. It had a gated driveway and was set back from the road by a substantial lawned frontage. The property also included a detached triple garage.

Alkaid fixed her hair a bit with a quick glance into her compact.

"Babe, you're fine."

"I'm just checking. First impressions are important."

Her redhead lover sighed as she rang the bell. "She physically cannot not like you. Like I said, she's too nice."

"Just a minute!" A voice called from the intercom. A moment later, the gate opened up.

"Granny's house is so big and fancy. Just like ours. Is she filthy rich like the Stolls say we are?"

"Yeah. Mum runs a gun manufacturing company. She makes some of the best stuff around. We've also got some kind of magical lineage but it skipped us the last few generations or something."

"And we inherited this house from our ancestors." A tall and graceful woman with high cheekbones, vivid blue eyes, and thick auburn hair said as she walked over to the opening gate. "Or did you forget that Pyrrha?"

"Granny?" Mina asked uncertainly.

"I'm Pyrrha's mum, yes. And you must be Mi-" The older woman never got the chance to finish her sentence before the excitable goddess tackled her in a fierce hug.

"Granny!" The little girl shouted enthusiastically. The older woman giggled and lifted the tiny goddess into the air.

"Hello to you too! Aren't you just a peach. Pyrrha, I should have met her ASAP."

"Yeah, well, I'm sorry." Her lover replied insincerely.

Shaking her head at Pyrrha's foolishness, Alkaid stepped forward to greet the older woman.

"Hello, Miss Branwen. I'm-"

"Alkaid Potter. The girl my Pyrrha was lovestruck over for years. I could've recognized you a mile away with how she used to go on and on about how you looked." The older woman said as she put her granddaughter down and allowed Mina to run over to press herself into Alkaid's side.

"Mum!" Pyrrha whined in the background, but no one paid her any attention.

"All flattering I hope?"

"About you? Definitely. For her? Well, I'm sure it'll leave her mortally embarrassed once I tell you all about it."

Alkaid and the woman shared a laugh at Pyrrha's expense.

"And please, call me Jane." Pyrrha's mother asked as she recomposed herself. "Now how about we go inside? I have to get to know you two more."

"I made muffins!" Mina offered, holding up the basket.

Jane happily took it. "Mm, let's have some brunch. It's the best meal to chat over after all."

"Sounds good. Lead the way, Jane."

With Pyrrha sulking and hanging back, the family headed into the house wholly unaware of their unhappy observer watching them through a set of binoculars from atop a floating staff some distance away.

* * *

The women settled themselves in Jane's living room as she served herself and the adults coffee while Mina had some hot chocolate, all while they enjoyed the muffins that the little baker had brought along.

"I have to say," Jane giggled. "I was wondering when Pyrrha was going to bring you here. I think she might have been scared."

"Mum!" Pyrrha whined, her cheeks pink.

"I have wanted to meet you for a while to be honest." Alkaid teasingly smiled at her lover. "I'm glad we could finally do this."

"No, I don't think you understand." Jane said with a teasing smirk. "Before I'd heard about the two of you, I'd almost despaired of Pyrrha ever finding someone. I'm honestly surprised and immensely glad that you've managed to tame my barbarian of a daughter."

"Come on, Mum, seriously?" Pyrrha sunk into her seat. Looking like she wanted to be swallowed by the cushions.

"Who was the one who decided to forget their mother existed for the better part of a year again?"

"I-I was busy!"

"Not even an letter?"

Pyrrha looked away in embarrassment.

"Mama was a bad girl?" Mina asked looking between Pyrrha and Jane in confusion.

"Yes," Jane said before Alkaid could cut in to save her lover some pride. "So don't follow her example, okay Mina? Be a good girl and keep in touch with your mothers. At least talk to them once a week."

The little goddess nodded.

"We apologize for not visiting sooner." Alkaid cut in before Pyrrha's mother could embarrass her daughter any further. "But we've been busy."

"Nonsense. It's because Pyrrha didn't want to come, wasn't it?"

"No. We had some serious business with the gods lately. It's been taxing to say the least." Alkaid carefully specified.

"Oh?" Jane asked and took a small sip of her coffee. Her eyes turned towards her daughter. "I see. Well, I'm sure Pyrrha is perfectly fine staying here with you two for...hm, a week? Yes. That sounds like a good idea."

Alkaid blinked. It wasn't a problem for her. If she made use of magical transportation, she could easily make her classes. It would still be awkward considering the time zones but not unmanageably so.

"Y-Yes Mum." Pyrrha agreed.

"Excellent! Now, I have a few things to finish up, but give me a couple hours and then I'll have plenty of time to get to know my granddaughter." Jane smiled beautifully. "And Alkaid, I love those shoes. Mm, yes, this is going to be a great week."

"Yay!" Mina cheered, her lips covered in crumbs. "Granny time!"

"Yes, Granny time."

* * *

"Nothing but these pathetic wizarding wards?" Alabaster said incredulously as he gripped a flimsy looking net of energy that formed a dome over Jane's house. "Are they serious?"

"I did say this would be a soft target, didn't I?" A dusky skinned woman with hair that seemed to fly everywhere on some ethereal breeze who floated unsupported in the air next to him replied. "Are you doubting me, son of Hecate?"

"Of course not, My Lady." The sorcerer backtracked quickly, knowing that offending this woman would be very detrimental to his health. "Merely surprised is all."

She eyed him teasingly with her odd eyes with their red pupils and yellow cornea.

"Do not look a gift horse in the mouth." She advised him. "Just be happy and enjoy the show as chaos erupts."

"Wise counsel indeed," The demigod agreed with a nod. "Then let's head back to base and inform the Mare-Do-Wells that everything is proceeding as planned."

The woman just smiled and with a snap of her fingers teleported the duo away in a pool of black.

* * *

 **Omake: Magic Lessons with Mina**

"Try it again." Baba Yaga demanded for what must have been the tenth time.

With a tired sigh, Alkaid obliged and sent a mild itching curse flying at her daughter.

Said goddess just looked up from her coloring before shaking her head and returned to ignoring the adults in the room. Alkaid couldn't blame her, it wasn't terribly interesting to just sit there and be a target for her spells.

Not that either of them had much choice in the matter. Not at least without offending Baba Yaga. The folk hero had apparently heard that Alkaid had scaled back on using subtle magic and had been incensed. Understandable since she'd been the one to encourage the sorceress to incorporate it more into her style. That said, Alkaid felt she had very firm grounds to justify her decision to do so. Now if only she could convince the old witch.

"Do you see what I mean, Baba?" The demigoddess asked. "Subtle magics just don't work against gods."

"Alright, I'm convinced girlie. You've got a case of Stupid Fingers." Baba Yaga frowned to the daughter of Hades.

"I'm sorry?" Alkaid asked, looking offended by the term.

"We all run into it at some time or another." The old witch waved off. "I remember when I first started out, my fingers were too stupid to try and bring the dead back to life. I try not to anymore, but I still did it to prove I could."

"What does that have to do with using subtle magic against gods?"

"Nothing. Just saying you aren't that good at it."

Alkaid threw her arms in the air. "Gods have absurd levels of natural resistance to magic. You know this."

The slavic hag snorted. "Please. You know that little harlot goddess of yours? Her Charm Speak works on gods."

"That's _her_ doing it." The demigoddess rubbed the bridge of her nose.

"So? Even lesser versions of it works on some deities."

Alkaid looked ready to test some of her blasting spells on the immortal witch.

"Maybe I should get a second opinion." The brunette said between gritted teeth.

"Or you could- What do you kids say again? Oh right! Git gud!"

 _Oh she did_ not _just say that._

"Look Baba, I understand that subtle magic has its place. Sadly, in the middle of a pitched battle against a god that can casually level cities like Zahhāk, isn't it. Not for me. You know what happened to L.A. correct?"

"Mmgh." The hag grumbled, her face twisted in annoyance.

"If I had relied on subtle magic, do you think I would survived that?"

The witch's face softened though she refused to say anything.

"Listen. You have specialized in such magic for countless centuries. In contrast, I'm not even twenty years old yet." Alkaid expressed with a tired sigh. "Furthermore, I'm not a goddess nor a folk hero such as yourself. I would need another decade to meet your level evenly."

"Ha! Only a decade? You think highly of yourself." Baba Yaga cackled. "Ah, that's what I like about you, girlie. Still, I see your point. I guess it's not fair to hold a mortal like you up to my standards."

Alkaid breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed she'd finally managed to convince the Slavic immortal, which was a good thing. She really did not want to lose her friendship and the often sage advice she gave. That and a potential baby sitter for her little girl.

Those tended to be in short supply. Who knew people would be leery of babysitting the goddess of serial killers?

* * *

 **Done and done!**

 **Thanks to the great team of Nameless and Axios as always.  
**

 **CelestialGodSlayer16: We don't usually respond to guest reviews but you raise a point worth addressing. First and foremost, any expys that do appear in our fics are just that, expys. They are not the same characters from the canon we originally drew inspiration from. This neatly dovetails into the fact that as a goddess Mina would be considered by the Nasuverse's standards to be a divine spirit which the Holy Grail explicitly cannot summon. Furthermore, the Holy Grail only ever summons copies of the Heroic Spirits it summons, so Mina** _ **won't**_ **ever be summoned. Just because she is inspired by one of the Nasuverse's versions of Jack the Ripper doesn't mean she is that character. She is her own character, just like, I repeat, all our other expies unless explicitly stated otherwise.**

 **Nameless: On another note, please do not expect us to reply to guest reviews like this regularly. We greatly prefer discussing things like this via PMs, which mean we would appreciate it if reviewers sign in when they leave reviews. If not, well then unless your review is particularly pertinent or interests us, then don't expect a reply.**

 **Now, we had a lot of stuff in this chapter and I really enjoyed the down time parts of our fics. Ah, slice of life. Still, I enjoyed Percy and Alkaid's entertaining interactions. Can't wait to have more of them.**

 **Nameless: I liked the foreshadowing bits most myself. So how do you folks like our interpretation of Alabaster? He's kinda a jealous prick, no? Well, we're basing that off his canon pride which is now being seriously challenged by Alkaid so totally outshining him. Also, anyone want to guess who that woman with him was at the end?**

 **Now we have someone keeping recon on Al and family. I wonder what he could be possibly thinking of doing to try and keep her away from Granddaddy Bits' plans.**

 **You know what to do! Smash that review button and tell us what you love! No flames and peace off my peeps!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson or Harry Potter.**

 **Consul of the Underworld: Grinding Phase**

 **Chapter Ten: Sinning Vacation**

 **Beta: ShadowofAxios**

* * *

It was a cool early winter morning when Alkaid and her family found themselves in the hidden underground wing of San Francisco City Hall waiting for her old clique to portkey in for a visit.

Most of the group had made the trip this time. Blaise, Padma, Lisa, Anthony, Michael, Susan, Hannah, Justin, Tracy, Daphne from their year and even the newly graduated Luna, Ginny, Jane, Francis, Ethel and Bruce had all endured the unpleasant transatlantic portkey for the visit. While a skilled caster could make the trip relatively comfortable, the Ministry's staff were neither as skilled nor cared enough about travelers' comfort to bother putting in the effort.

They had brought Mina along to meet their friends. Dressed in a little sundress, said goddess was currently hiding behind Pyrrha. She was peeking her head out, eying all the new strangers.

"Miss Potter, it's a pleasure to see you again." Blaise greeted with a formal bow as the group portkeyed in. "And thank you for offering to house and guide us on our tour of the United States."

The others offered similar greetings and thanks, but Alkaid waved them off. She was more than glad to help her old schoolmates out on their graduation holiday. Considering how well they'd all done on their NEWTS it was only fair that they got a chance to celebrate.

"Welcome to the States everyone." Alkaid smiled warmly.

Pyrrha nudged Alkaid, and she turned to her lover to see her nodding towards the mob of people gathered around the room waiting for them to clear out and greet their own incoming arrivals.

"We best get moving." Alkaid said with a nod of her own to Pyrrha. "Wouldn't want to hold anyone else up."

The group squeezed through the seemingly endless throngs of wizards and other magicals that occupied the halls of the American Renaissance style building.

"We've got a limo waiting outside for us." Pyrrha said, keeping a hand on Mina as the tiny goddess eyed the crowds around her predatorily.

The demigoddesses noticed that all their friends were looking at the small girl curiously. That was going to be an interesting introduction.

"Unlike the Ministry in London, the San Francisco Department of Magical Affairs' public entrance is a specialized one-way floo that is connected to a room set up in the Civic Centre Garage." Alkaid informed the group as they approached a large hall with a set of fireplaces built into the far wall.

"Do people flooing directly in use this room too?" Padma asked curiously.

"Not safe." Mina snorted dismissively, earning her the attention of the Hogwarts graduates and in turn causing her to shyly press herself into Pyrrha's side.

"Mina is correct." Alkaid jumped in, before questions could be asked. She really wanted to save introductions for after they got out of this sardine can masquerading as a government building. "In the interests of safety, all incoming floos are redirected to a secured entryway in the Garage and then floos into the building from there."

"The staff still get to use the entrance built into the Pioneer Monument but they closed that off to the public for security reasons years ago." The daughter of war added. "Splitting it up makes screening a lot easier, apparently."

"Sounds like a waste of resources to me." Michael commented.

"Gotta agree with you." Pyrrha said with a shrug. "Betcha it was the idea of some know nothing bureaucrat."

"It usually is." Susan agreed as the friends began stepping into the floo.

"Whoever it is splurged on the gadgets though." Ethel noted as she and the others stared at the array of magical and mundane equipment the security checkpoint was using to screen visitors going in and out of City Hall.

"It's a necessary precaution." Daphne said as she shook herself out of the shocked stupor at the sight. "I doubt they want a repeat of what happened to Los Angeles."

Alkaid flinched at that. She'd mostly moved past that tragedy but the reminder still stung.

"Yeah, who'd have thought anyone would be stupid enough to set off Exploding Fluid on a major fault line?" Anthony said with a shake of his head as the group began going through security.

"Don't doubt the stupidity of terrorists." Blaise replied. "Though this was definitely a particularly foolish lot. Did they honestly think doing something like this would force the muggles' surrender?"

"As you said, they were idiots." Susan said in agreement. "All it did was push them to crack down on them."

 _And the muggles are opportunistic vultures._ Alkaid added to herself. No sooner than the dust from the disaster settled had the muggles spun the tale that a rogue group of wizard supremacists had been responsible and used it to justify a crackdown on the admittedly preexisting groups of said racist idiots.

"Let's not talk about mass murderers, okay?" Hannah pleaded as they finally finished clearing security.

As they filtered outside and Pyrrha began leading them to the waiting limousine, Luna eyed their surroundings with a critical eye. In particular, she seemed to pay special attention to the number of poorly dressed people loitering around the parking garage.

"Alkaid, is it normal for druggies to loiter so close to City Hall?" The eccentric young woman asked in an uncharacteristically serious tone.

"This is San Francisco, so yes." Alkaid informed her friend sadly.

"That's just sad." Ginny said as she looked at the addicts sympathetically.

Pyrrha shrugged before replying. "Yeah, but life is hard. Sometimes people just get lost."

"But there's so many of them." Jane said in a disturbed whisper.

"Like Pyrrha said, life's tough like that." Alkaid said with her own helpless shrug.

"Let's not talk about them okay? It's spoiling the mood." Bruce cut in. "We're supposed to have fun on this trip, not get all gloomy at how life can suck."

"Bruce's right." Pyrrha said with a smile at the younger man. "And right on time, here's our car."

She gestured towards a parked limousine whose driver jumped to his feet from where he was leaning against the vehicle and taking a smoke break at the sight of them. He stubbed out his cigarette and hastily got into the driver's seat.

Alkaid shot the man a comforting look even as she ushered everyone to take their seats. Once everyone was comfortable, with Mina snuggly sitting on Alkaid's lap and her head buried into her mother's shoulder, Alkaid told the driver to head out.

"So, um, who's this?" Ginny asked curiously.

"Mina, introduce yourself." Alkaid whispered to her.

"Mmgh." The tiny goddess grumbled in protest.

"Mina."

At the sternness of her tone, Mina pulled away from the safety of her shoulder and turned around to face the wizards and witches.

"I'm Mina Potter. Hello." The silver haired goddess said before returning to her previous 'safe' position.

 _You'd think all that time at Camp would get rid of her shyness._ Alkiad thought as she looked at the stunned and confused faces of her old clique.

"She's my adopted daughter. She's quite powerful for her age." Alkaid explained.

"She must be something special if you guys adopted her." Padma stated with amazement.

The daughter of Hades stroked Mina's hair, "She certainly is. She was an exciting surprise for our little family."

Pyrrha smirked, "That's for sure. It was a _big_ surprise for our parents."

" _Your_ parents like her." Alkaid retorted.

The redhead chuckled. "Yeah, never thought my dad would actually manage to connect with a kid like that. He definitely never did it when I was a little girl. Then again, him and Mina _are_ on the same wavelength on a lot of things."

"Is that the Golden Gate Bridge!?" Jane said suddenly as the iconic landmark appeared in the windows.

"Yes. And there it goes." Alkaid said as the limo darted past it.

"How?" Tracy asked in surprise, before a look of comprehension crossed her face. "The limo's like the Knight Bus!"

"It does indeed makes use of much of the same magicks." Alkaid confirmed with a nod.

"We thought it would be a nice way for you to see the sights while still getting to our place without taking forever." Pyrrha added. "If you want a better look at anything just let the driver know and he'll slow down."

"Renting something like this must have cost a fortune." Daphne noted, her eyes wide.

"It was nothing." Alkaid reassured her ex-girlfriend. "Especially for my friends."

"This is going to be an amazing Grad Trip." Anthony smiled.

The demigoddesses certainly hoped it would be.

* * *

After an eventful morning of sightseeing that had them catching glimpses from their magical limousine of the tourist staples like Fisherman's Wharf, as well as the wonders of nature such as those to be found in Olompali State Historic Park, the group had grabbed lunch at the restaurant of a neighbouring vineyard that doubled as a bed and breakfast before finally arriving at the Potter home.

It was now a couple hours later and the group were regrouping for some tea.

As everyone settled, Mina walked into the room with a large tray of cookies in her hands. She set it on the table and moved to sit between her mothers.

"Alright, I love these things. Thanks Mina." Pyrrha grinned as she snagged several cookies to eat. "You guys should try some."

"I don't see why not." Luna smiled and took one for herself and nibbled on it. After a surprised noise escaped her, she had some more of it. "These are delicious."

At Luna's affirmation, the others also took a few for themselves.

"This is the best cookie I've ever had." Ginny said with a look of awe on her face. That was high praise indeed from a woman whose mother was considered something of a domestic goddess by all those who knew her.

The others all expressed similar exclamations of praise.

At the praise showered upon her, Mina smiled shyly and leaned in close to Alkaid. Patting her head, Alkaid had asked, "So how are things in the Britain?"

"Nothing major has changed so far." Blaise informed the demigoddesses. "Though Hermione has been doing interesting things lately."

That certainly piqued Alkaid's attention so she gestured for him to continue.

"Recently, after some rehabilitation, she's quit her Ministry job and started a new organization. It's called the Equal Rights Society. She's been lobbying for equal rights for all beings in Wizarding Britain."

"Yes. I've heard of that. In fact, I've been donating quite a lot to her cause to help her start up. I've also been helping her to find some other donors."

She garnered many surprised looks at this, which made her chuckle.

"I didn't think you two were talking again." Tracy confessed.

"We've been corresponding on and off. Ever since I helped with her rescue."

"So you know what she's talking about?" Ethel asked cautiously. "I'm thinking about joining but I really would like to know more about the details of her platform first."

"I'm not familiar enough to do that as I've only exchanged a couple of letters on the topic, but I'll try." Alkaid said cautiously. "What would you like to know?"

"The whole platform to be honest." Padma said. "I'm actually curious what she wants to do. It would be nice for the muggleborns to have a rallying point."

"Well, it's not just limited to muggleborns. She's aiming to push for equality for all races, be they muggleborns, centaurs, goblins, dwarves, house elves, etc."

"Centaurs still? I thought she'd want to wage war on them after what happened." Ginny asked incredulously and Ethel wrinkled her nose.

"In a way, her movement does exactly that." Alkaid reassured her friends. "After all she wants _total_ equality between races. With wizards as the benchmark. Meaning she wants to force all other races to adopt wizarding norms in exchange for rights."

"That sounds reasonable." Hannah mused. "I mean, if they want to be part of our community then they need to accept the same norms we do right?"

"But what if they have some cultural thing that clashes with our norms?" Anthony mused.

"Like kidnapping women and enslaving them to be broodmares?" Pyrrha asked pointedly.

Some of the young women shuffled uncomfortably.

"That's not what I meant!" The man defended. "I was thinking about House Elves and their symbiosis with their magical families. Ignorant people see it as slavery."

"Because it can be." Luna said with a sharp look.

"Hermione's actually thought of that." Alkaid cut in. "For races with intolerable practices like the centaurs they either change or she'll see them hunted into extinction the way monsters like them deserve. As for races with more complex circumstances like House Elves, then she's proposing a case by case compromise. For example, she's pushing for legislation outlawing House Elf abuse enforced by regular inspections."

Daphne had a calculating look on her face.

"So if we don't meet her standards what happens?"

"What do you mean?" Tracy asked her friend.

""I mean, say some Wizarding families don't like this policy. How would Granger respond to that?"

"She is running a lobbying organization, not a terrorist organization. So she'll keep trying to convince them. That's all."

The strawberry blonde nodded, "Alright. Let's hope so."

"You don't trust her to not become a genocidal maniac?" The daughter of Hades asked with some exasperation.

"People can do things that you don't see coming."

"Hey Daph, no offense, but even _I_ think you're being extreme here." Tracy told her best friend.

Daphne shot her friend a frustrated look and seemed prepared to continue the argument.

"Enough talk about Hermione I think." Blaise said diplomatically.

Daphne frowned but took the hint, picking up her tea cup she silently began sipping her tea.

"So what's on the agenda next, Alkaid?" Luna asked excitedly.

"Oh. We're going to have some real fun, Luna. Who's heard of Las Vegas?"

* * *

After a couple days of hedonistic fun in Sin City, wherein the British had their minds all but blown away by the many, many ways to party in America's- and the possibly the world's- entertainment capital. They had wasted money in the casinos, caught shows at the city's many venues, gone clubbing at its trendy nightclubs and had all sorts of fun.

All good things must come to an end though and after two days the friends were too exhausted to continue. They had thus returned to Alkaid's California home to rest and recover.

It was the day after and they were regrouping in Alkaid's dining room over breakfast.

"Morning everyone," Alkaid greeted with a smile as she walked into the room with Pyrrha clinging to her arm still half-asleep and Mina skipping along behind them both. "Settled in alright last night?"

As Alkaid and her family settled into their seats, the girls all gave positive replies. The boys were a lot less enthusiastic however as they merely gave sleepy grunts or tired nods.

"Mother, why are all the boys looking like Mama?" Mina asked with an innocently curious tilt of her head.

"Because they hadn't had enough partying so went out drinking last night." Alkaid explained with a superior smile at her hungover lover.

"Ah. Doesn't that make them silly?"

"Why yes they are." Alkaid giggled.

Pyrrha grunted in irritation at the barb but didn't deny it.

"It was worth it though." Michael whispered. "The beer in Healdsburg, was it?"

Several of the men nodded.

"It was great."

Anthony nodded in agreement with his friend. Padma frowned disapprovingly at her boyfriend but said nothing.

"The eye candy was pretty nice too." Francis chimed in without thinking and earning himself a glare from Ethel.

"Wasn't ogling all the girls in Vegas enough for you guys?" The usually quiet woman scathingly asked, even as all the ladies glared at the poor man.

Francis rapidly looked at his male fellows for some help and found them carefully avoiding his eyes. Left without any support, he shrunk into himself and apologized.

"Sorry. I was just making an observation is all."

 _Or not._ Alkaid noted with amusement as her female friends' glares intensified. _He's digging his way deeper into the grave._

"Not that you all aren't beautiful and all," Francis continued seemingly having found his confidence.

"Smooth." Pyrrha whispered as she nursed a fresh cup of coffee. She inhaled deeply and sighed at the pleasant scent.

"But a man needs something new once in awhile, you know?"

"Here. Here." Michael said with a cheer.

Everyone just looked at him.

"Aren't you gay? And dating Terry?" Ginny reminded the man.

Michael just smirked.

"Yup, but he isn't here and he told me to enjoy myself. So that's exactly what I'm gonna do."

"You're going behind his back?" Daphne asked with a hint of menace.

"Like I'd ever do that." Michael said as he continued to smile at some joke only he understood. "He even asked me to get a close look, if possible, at any hunks I took a liking to."

Everyone looked at each other in confusion.

"Man, not going to lie, that's a cool boyfriend." Francis said.

"He asked you to make up for him not being able to make this trip by collecting Pensieve memories so you can enjoy the experience when you get home, didn't he?" Alkaid deduced even as she shook her head at her friends' antics.

Michael's grin stretched from ear to ear.

"I'll say it again." Francis said with his own shake of his head. "Your boyfriend is just too cool."

"Talking about cool cucumbers, where's Blaise?" Pyrrha asked as she put away yet another cup of coffee.

Looking around and noticing that her right hand man was indeed missing, a frown marred the homeowner's face. "Yes, where _is_ Blaise? Shouldn't he be up by now, even with a hangover?"

He was an excellent servant like that. So this was very out of character for the Italian wizard.

The men exchanged looks.

"I don't think he made it back last night." Justin said as he looked to the others for confirmation. "He hooked up with a girl and that was the last we saw him."

Alkaid quirked a brow at him.

"Dude, buddy system." Pyrrha grunted as she sipped her coffee. Mina handed her a muffin, which she happily took.

Luna threw a bread roll at the daughter of war, but Mina plucked it out of the air and started nibbling on it. The eccentric witch looked put out that her confectionary missile missed, but shrugged and addressed the redhead.

"Our friend is missing, and you're not worried?"

"Nah, Blaise can handle himself." Pyrrha replied. "Worse comes to worse, we go looking for him."

"Relax Luna," Tracy said as she put aside the newspaper she'd been reading to join the conversation. It had been anti-social of her, but from the empty plate in front of her she'd been here quite a while already. Probably long before the others arrived. That she'd bothered to stay and not wandered off to do her own thing was more than polite as it was.

"He's probably just a little too tired after a good shag to apparate back."

"Oh, was Mr. Blaise stabbing someone Mother?" Mina asked innocently as she happily nibbled her bread. Her yellowish green eyes bright with curiosity.

That got Alkaid many looks of surprise.

"She's very bright." Alkaid offered a strained smile.

She was saved from having to explain further by Pyrrha hastily redirecting the conversation back on track.

"We'll give him till lunch. If he's not back by then, Kaidy will track him down with some scrying."

The others nodded in acceptance.

"So what do we do in the meantime?" Susan asked.

"Well, first things first," Hannah said brightly and as loudly as she could. "We need to give these lushes some potions for their hangovers."

The men and Pyrrha all flinched.

"Ow, why?!" Anthony whined.

"Simple. You deserved it. You inconsiderate fools just lost us a whole morning." Padma told her boyfriend with a sadistic smile at his suffering.

"Rude." Daphne huffed.

"Alkaid, any suggestions on what we can do without the boys?" Jane asked, as she too smiled cruelly at the hungover fools.

"Ever hear of a ladies only club?" Alkaid asked jokingly. She wiggled her brows, getting a few naughty giggles from the other girls while the boys looked disgruntled.

"Pyrrha _has_ to stay!" Bruce demanded. "She went with us last night. If we have to get punished then so does she."

"Sounds fair." Lisa agreed. "Alkaid?"

"Of course! How could she look at anyone other than me?" Alkaid said in an exaggerated haughty tone.

"Yay! Mama can stay home and play with me!" Mina cheered. "And all the boys can be target practice!"

"Ow! Squirt, a little lower on the decibels." Pyrrha hissed as she rubbed her forehead.

"Yay!" Mina scream-whispered before giggling into her hands.

"That's settled then." Alkaid said with finality as she finished her meal and stood. "Ladies, why don't you go get ready and we leave in ten minutes."

The girls stood and began to head back to their rooms.

Turning to the men and Pyrrha, Alkaid shot them a predatory smile. "As for you lot, enjoy the hangover."

With that she turned and walked off, ignoring their pleas for some relief for their suffering.

 _Nope. No potions this time._ The daughter of Hades thought to herself vindictively. _I had a whole day of activities planned today and thanks to your alcoholism, it's wasted. You need to pay for it._

"Well, how about I do come up with some hangover 'cures' for them?" Alkaid smiled, though it looked absolutely wicked as she headed towards the kitchens. "I wonder, what exactly can I get them to try? Hair of dog?"

The frightful whimpers that reached her ears were simply music to her ears.

* * *

In the end, just before lunch Alkaid had finally took pity on Pyrrha and the boys and given those still feeling under the weather some hangover relievers. She'd have helped them out more but contrary to popular belief she couldn't pull miracles out of thin air and a hangover cure was something that had eluded humanity for about as long as they had been consuming alcohol.

She'd never felt the need to take a shot at developing a hangover cure, being a light drinker herself but if the bellyaching she was subject to this morning was anything to go by then doing so might be a lucrative use for her alchemical skills.

That enticing possibility aside, there was the more pressing concern that Blaise had still failed to make an appearance by the time lunch had rolled around. Worried for her loyal servant, Alkaid promptly began searching for him.

"So, you find him yet?" Pyrrha asked as the daughter of Hades leaned over a map of the area that she was using as a medium to scry his location. Her eyes were focused on her wand as it danced in the air over the map.

"I'm pinning him down. He's still nearby thankfully." Alkaid replied as the tip of the wand stabbed into the paper. "And there he is."

"Hey, that's the hotel near where we went last night." The redhead pointed out, her finger tapping the map repeatedly.

Rubbing her eyes, the brunette sighed. "Well, let's go retrieve him. It will at least give him the excuse to ditch whatever one night stand he has."

"Ouch, that's cold Kaidy." Pyrrha teased, mirth in her eyes.

"Let's go. I have an itinerary and it's already messed up." The young woman said with a dull glare at her lover.

"Hey hey, I apologized."

"Mm, you are making it up to me later." The emerald eyed woman whispered and caused her lover to blush.

"Uh, sure. Yeah." Pyrrha nodded rapidly.

"Good. Now I'm going to pick Blaise up." Alkaid announced to the rest of her friends who were lounging around her sitting room chatting and in the case of some having second, or was it third, helpings of dessert. "Anyone want to come?"

"I'll go." Susan said, with Hannah predictably following suit. They were followed by Daphne, Tracy, Anthony, Padma, Bruce and Ginny. The others instead choosing to stay behind to rest up for their planned festivities later that night.

Alkaid had at Pyrrha's suggestion booked them front row tickets for a Red Hot Chili Peppers concert. It was not something the sorceress herself would have chosen as entertainment but as a means to expose her generally sheltered Hogwarts friends to modern culture it was a decent choice.

"Excellent. I hope he has pants on." Alkaid smirked, causing her friends to laugh as they left to recover their missing friend.

* * *

"Blaise, we _know_ you're in there. Open the door!" Alkaid demanded as she glared at the closed door to the honeymoon suite in the hotel where she'd tracked Blaise to.

After arriving, it had only taken a little charm, and a healthy dose of subtle magic that bordered on compulsion, to get the mousy young receptionist to provide her the details to her butler's room.

 _Though if the way she was blushing and refusing to meet my eyes is any indication, I might have gone overboard._ The sorceress mused absently as she waited impatiently for her usually prompt servant to obey her command.

"Blaise, buddy. Open the door. We're worried about you mate." Anthony said, trying to use male camaraderie where Alkaid's appeal to authority had failed. "Just open up and let us check if you're okay."

"Yeah, Alkaid looks ready to burn the door down. With her eyes." Bruce added. "And I'm being literal here. They're glowing."

Alkaid shot the younger man a look, but he only gave a playful shrug.

"I-I'm a little busy at the moment!" Was the muffled reply, though it sounded strained.

Tired of this already, Alkaid blasted the door open before anyone could say anything else.

Was it rude of her? Yes. Did she care at the moment? No.

As she walked in, Blaise -face flushed- covered himself with the sheets though his female companion didn't even seem bothered, and left her nude body on display.

She was a pretty thing, with rich dark brown hair cascading off her shoulders, chocolate brown eyes twinkling with mirth and pale skin that was slick with sweat.

"I-I am so sorry, um, I just-" Blaise gulped at Alkaid's annoyed look.

His companion on the other hand lazily waved to them in greeting. "Hello~!"

"Naomi!" The young man said aghast at her exhibitionism and hastily covered her with the sheets.

The young woman rolled her eyes but then narrowed them as she looked at Alkaid.

"Hm, hey… Do I know you? You look familiar."

The sorceress ignored her as she tried to piece together why the name seemed to stir up some vague sense of recollection.

"Oh… Oh shit I do remember you." The young woman actually looked embarrassed now.

Alkaid quirked a brow.

"It's me Naomi. I, um, kinda almost raped you about ten years back."

Silence filled the room.

"There's a story there." Pyrrha noted, her voice laced with anger. "But we can worry about that later."

Naomi nodded and released a whistle while looking Alkaid up and down.

"Alright, but damn. Can I just say damn, you turned out sexier then sex, girl."

Pyrrha looked about ready to rip the girl's head off.

Revelation dawned on Alkaid, who pinched her nose and closed her eyes. "Ah. Yes. The siren girl."

"Guilty~!"

"Siren? As in the sex loving, life force sucking, wizarding kind?" Pyrrha asked, pulling out her wand. She wasn't the only one as all of Alkaid's friends followed her example.

"Yes… I learnt a lot about myself that summer." Alkaid furrowed her brow.

Naomi licked her lips. "Mm, I still remember your life force. Being grounded for a month was so worth it."

"You got attacked by a siren and didn't tell me?" Pyrrha hissed as she leveled her wand at the magical creature.

"It was right after our fight."

"As fascinating as all this is," Daphne cut in scathingly, glaring at Naomi. "Perhaps we could address the naked elephant in the room?"

"Oh, he's got an elephant alright." The siren giggled excitedly.

"Enough. Can we have our friend back now please?" Tracy asked.

"Nope." The girl said seriously. "He's my mate and he's mine. From now till the day he dies."

"Last I recalled, sirens mated with other sirens." Alkaid pointed out to the girl even as she cast a handful of diagnostic spells on the naked duo and was startled to find a magical bond between them.

 _Dammit, what bond did this girl form with Blaise? It's similar to some mating bonds between magical creatures, but that shouldn't be possible._

"We sirens are lucky. We get two mates at a time!" The siren explained cheerfully. "We get our siren mates, who we bond with forever and ever. Even in death. But our other mates? As long as they live our bonds are just as strong."

"I can second that." Blaise said, nodding eagerly in agreement. "I feel like she's a part of me."

Alkaid rubbed her temples, she felt a headache building and retorted. "You do know she's seventeen at best, yes?"

Blaise's olive skin paled greatly as she twisted to Naomi. "I thought you were eighteen?!"

"I am!" Naomi insisted. "I've just always looked a little younger than my proper age."

"Is he under some kind of charm effect?" Pyrrha wondered aloud.

"Not unless you count the mating bond."

 _Which considering it's designed to enslave someone and make them into being a siren's ready, willing and eminently replaceable meal, it totally should._ Alkaid noted, but did not say. The situation was tense enough and she really wanted to avoid the need to kill Naomi and start a conflict with her flock. The girl couldn't exactly help that one of her evolutionary adaptations made her bonds to non-sirens unsettlingly predatory to its victims.

"Listen, Naomi, I understand how important this is for you, but Blaise has responsibilities back in the U.K."

The siren shrugged. "It's fine. I'll just go with him."

"You'll drop your entire life and follow him across the Atlantic?" Padma's jaw dropped a little.

"He's my mate. Of course, I'd do something as small as that. Besides, I'm sure it'll be more fun than sticking around here in the States." The teenager said confidently.

Bruce looked concerned. "Blaise, come on, your mother and the Wizarding World is never going to approve of this. There's no way they'll accept a siren, known far and wide for their promiscuity, as your wife let alone as a possible Lady to a Noble House."

The Italian wizard hardly looked convinced. "So? Why should I care? My Mum's got a reputation as being a black widow already, she probably wouldn't mind."

"I think you may be underestimating your Mother's reaction, Blaise." Susan shifted nervously on her feet. "Very few are going to be comfortable about this back home."

"So what if I can't marry him?" Naomi said with a shrug. "Why would I need a piece of paper? It's not like I'd mind just being his mate and his mistress. In fact, that might make things even better. I mean, it would make hunting a lot easier than if I was Blaise's wife."

Blaise let out a pained groaned, but nodded in agreement with his mate.

 _This is getting us nowhere._ Alkaid noted as she rubbed her temples. _Time to call in the adults._

"I'm getting your parents here. Now." The daughter of Hades informed the siren sternly.

"What?! Oh come on!" The teenager whined.

She was summarily ignored however and going to the corner of the room, Alkaid conjured a small fire. Tossing some floo powder form the small stash she always carried on her person alongside a holdout drachma for either firecalls or I.M.

As the flames turned green, she called the name of the siren matriarch. "Angela Swan-Weber."

She was thankful that the American floo system allowed for connections to people by name. It made things a lot more convenient at times even if it was a little more unsafe. Though that was mitigated by them having a much more competent magical law enforcement and thus deterrence against magical crime.

 _Now if only they had more competent management of the floo system itself._ Alkaid thought to herself ruefully as she looked away from the risque scene in the flames. In it, the siren matron was quite busily occupied feeding and being fed from by her mate and fellow matriarch, Bella.

"Madames Swan-Weber!" Alkaid hissed out in exasperation.

Both women on the other side of the flames looked towards what to them must have been a fireplace out of the corner of their eyes but otherwise refused to acknowledge Alkaid. Instead, the pace of their lovemaking seemed to intensify until moments later they both peaked quite spectacularly right in front of their audience.

Pyrrha and the group from Britain all averted their eyes and were blushing up a storm at the display. That was in stark contrast to Naomi and Alkaid's reactions.

"Looks like I'll be getting another sister soon." Naomi noted with a sigh. "It's like they're at it every time I call. Mom, Mama, why do you breed like rabbits?!"

Alkaid in turn just rolled her eyes. _And I thought my family was frisky?_

If she could fire stinging jinxes through the firecall, she would have already.

"Please come here and fix this mess with your daughter. If you would be so kind of course."

Still, she had to be polite about it.

"Hello, Miss Potter." Angela said as she languidly turned to properly face the fire, even as her hands still idly roamed her mate's body as it lay on top of her and elicited mewls of pleasure from the other siren. "To what do we owe the honor of a call from you?"

"Your daughter." The peeved sorceress said bluntly.

"Oh. Has Naomi taken a fancy to you again? I thought we curbed her behavior on that front." Bella asked as she swatted Angela's hands playfully away and turned her attention to the call as well.

The siren with light brown hair frowned at being denied and flipped them over before she began quite pleasantly but determinedly expressing her displeasure to her mate's body.

"Could you two stop it!?" Pyrrha hissed. "We're trying to have a serious discussion here."

"Sorry, can't." Bella replied in a surprisingly even voice considering the situation. "You caught us while we're feeding. We can't deny our instincts once we get going."

"I can attest to that." Naomi added in.

Alkaid and friends all groaned in frustration at that. "Then let's finish this quickly so that we won't be interrupting you two any further."

"That would be, ah, much appreciated." The siren said as her breath hitched. "So what, oh, did Naomi do this time?"

"She seems to have bonded to a servant of mine that needs to return to Britain soon. Though your daughter insists that she will go with him."

The sirens seemed confused by this, even Angela paused in his ministrations for a moment to shoot the flames a bewildered look before she dived back to her task with gusto, clearly not understanding the issue at hand.

"So? Let her follow." Bella shrugged or as best as she could with her mate all over her. "What is the issue?"

"Politics." Alkaid simply said.

The dark brown haired siren was about to reply but shoved a hand in her mouth instead as she bit off a scream of pleasure and seemingly melted into an insensate mess.

Thankfully, her previously occupied mate was more than ready to take over the conversation.

"Let people think what they want." Angela said distractedly, as she eyed the state she'd left her mate in with pride.

Frustration got the better of Alkaid and she threw her hands in the air. "You know what? Take care of this yourselves. I cannot have a conversation like this."

With her declaration, she walked out of the room.

"Hey! If you ever want a threesome, let me know!" Naomi called out to her.

"Over my dead body." Pyrrha hissed as she followed her lover out and the others did the same.

"...Kinky." The siren called out as the rest of the group left.

* * *

After the matter of Blaise and his new siren mate was 'settled', as much as caving to her unreasonable demands could be called settled, the rest of the group now missing Blaise were able to enjoy a couple more days with Alkaid's family.

They had gone on tours of the wine country around her estate and sampled many great wines.

The girls of the group had also gotten plenty of shopping done. Of course they had made use of the chance to catch up on all the latest gossip and girl talk they had missed out on since they'd last regularly seen each other back in Hogwarts as well.

Not to be left out, the boys had spent the time the girls were maxing out their budgets enjoying some of the variety of sporting entertainment available in the States, both magical and mundane. They'd watched a match of Quodpot as well as as a baseball game. They knew next to nothing about either games but had enjoyed the atmosphere at both games tremendously.

Now though, it was time to head home and Blaise had finally deigned to rejoin the group. He wasn't alone though and was accompanied not only by Naomi but by another girl.

"Who's this?" Daphne asked coldly as she eyed the latest addition to their group.

"Hello," The blue eyed woman with collar-length blonde hair said shyly. "My name's Sally. I'm Naomi's cousin and siren mate."

Alkaid couldn't help giving the woman a once over at that declaration.

Dressed in a long-sleeved, knee-length polka-dot dress with a dark ribbon on her chest that artfully displayed her supermodel worthy figure, Sally was undeniably beautiful. As if that wasn't enough the way she tied her hair back with a polka-dot ribbon gave her a air of childish innocence that just seemed to make her even more attractive.

 _Do all sirens have to be so perfect looking? Blast the genes that allow them to be such beautiful creatures._ Alkaid lamented. She was consoled however by the fact that she wasn't the only one who felt this way as she could see the same looks of envy on the rest of the girls' faces.

"Man, look at you Blaise!" Justin snickered. "Not one but two beauties? When will your lust end?"

"Yeah! Why should you be so fortunate?" Bruce joked.

"Actually, it's my harem. Not his." Naomi corrected the boys, a lecherous grin on her face. She winced though when her cousin bopped her on the head.

Sally's face was crimson as she looked shyly to the ground.

Tickling her cousin's side and earning a squeak from her mate, Naomi looked at Alkaid slyly.

"You know, you can join us anytime, Alkaid." The siren licked her lips. "My tongue's just begging to taste you again."

Pyrrha looked about ready to cut her in two, but the daughter of Hades rested a hand on her shoulder. Giving it a calming squeeze, Alkaid replied.

"No thank you. Still, I hope your stay will be… adventurous."

"Oh! It will be!"

* * *

Life continued uneventfully for Alkaid and her family after her friends left, that is until November came rolling around and Alkaid bought herself a new game as a treat, Sonic 06. The game was something of a disaster with terrible camera controls, a story that left much to be desired and a whole host of other issues, but the daughter of Hades was determined to complete it nonetheless. The completionist gamer in her would not be satisfied otherwise.

This however had caused her quite a few problems as her obsession had led to increasingly strident calls for her to stop from her family. Mina had began eying the PS3 murderously on occasion, while Alkaid had been forced to stop Pyrrha from destroying it or the game disc at least four times. Even the house elves, who were usually on her side as the owner of the house, had taken to reminding her to take breaks from the game often with a disapproving look in their eyes.

Alkaid knew that her neglect of her family, and she had enough self-reflection to see it as such, to play her game was wrong. And that her need to play the game had crossed the line into addiction, but she couldn't help herself. If she didn't finish it, then she felt like she couldn't call herself a gamer.

 _Then again… If this is what I need to call myself that, is it worth it?_ Alkaid thought to herself, and thus distracting herself. This immediately caused her avatar to get itself killed. Letting out a frustrated groan, she watched for the umpteenth time as her character was forced to use one of the extra lives she'd been hoarding. _I might have to turn casual._

Dropping the controller she got up and headed out the room. The light outside made her wince a bit, but she adjusted quickly enough. "Wallas."

In a soft pop, one of her house elves appeared.

"Yes missus?"

"Store the PS3 away please. I'm getting a migraine from it. Do not give it back to me until finals are over." She declared to the elf.

Wallas bobbed his large head, making his paperboy hat nearly slip off. "'Course missus."

He eagerly ran into her room to do so.

Alkaid walked down the stairs to the kitchen and grabbed some orange juice before going in search of her lover and daughter.

"So you finally remembered that you have a family?" Pyrrha asked with an angry glare at Alkaid as the daughter of Hades walked into the living room where the redhead was seemingly using a set of knives to play darts with Mina. "Or did you finally finish that piece of trash?"

"Yes dear." Alkaid sighed as she sipped from her tall glass of OJ.

"Mother!" Mina squealed and tackle hugged the sorceress.

"Hello sweetie." The brunette cooed as she gave the little goddess a one armed hug and lifted her up. She headed over to the couch and sat down. "You want some juice too?"

"Mm! I'll get the muffins." Mina giggled and dashed away to the kitchen.

Pyrrha glared at her.

"...So I may have gotten a little obsessed."

"A little?" Pyrrha demanded fiercely. "You basically locked us out of your life for the better part of a week!"

"...A lot. And I apologize. I told Wallas to lock it away." The sorceress rubbed her eyes. "That thing was Satan."

"Good." The daughter of war said with a pleased nod of her head. "But not enough. The next time you get a game I need you to promise me something."

"What exactly?"

"That the next time you only ever play a set number of hours a week and that family time gets priority over any gaming time."

It was a reasonable request, but the gamer in Alkaid rebelled against the idea.

"How about only multiplayer games? Like Mario Party?" Alkaid weakly offered. Even as the words left her mouth, she knew it was a mistake. Her offer basically made the promise meaningless. Would the type of game matter if it distracted her from her family?

As Alkaid expected, Pyrrha just glared at her with a burning intensity upon hearing what she'd said. "Do you want us to walk out on you? Because if you're not interested in us being a family then I'll leave and I'm taking Mina with me."

A cold snap ran through the living room as Alkaid's eyes became harder than diamond. Through her teeth, she hissed. "That's going too far, Pyrrha."

The shadows in the room writhed, reacting to her anger.

"Maybe." The redhead conceded with a frown, the intensity in her eyes dimming.

"No! Not maybe. I did something wrong. I said it. That's that, but there is no need for threats. _Especially_ not like that."

"I was trying to make a damned point!" Pyrrha shot back, even as Mina blurred into the room and between her mothers looking at them worriedly.

"What's going on?" The little girl asked, sounding confused and scared. "Why are Mama and Mother fighting?"

Alkaid's anger cooled immediately and the shadows settled in response. She turned to comfort her daughter, but it seemed Ares' blood in Pyrrha system was still burning hot.

"Your Mother was trying to wiggle out of a promise to game less and spend more time with us." The redhead accused, daring Alkaid to contradict her.

"I wasn't trying to wiggle! I was just seeing if I could incorporate both."

"You were trying to score an exception." Pyrrha scoffed in anger, her nostrils flaring. "All I asked was that you set a limit and prioritize family time and you wanted a whole type of game excluded from the promise! That's as good as not making the promise at all."

Mina's eyes full open at Pyrrha's words and shot a hurt look at Alkaid, before edging away from her.

Alkaid couldn't lie, her heart wilted at that the sight and she felt shame worm its way through her.

"Mother likes her games more than Mina?" The little goddess asked in a heartbroken whisper as she hugged herself.

Pyrrha immediately pulled their daughter into a hug and tucked her into her side, even as she shot Alkaid a glare for upsetting her.

"No!" She surprised herself as she shouted that. "I just- I...I'm sorry. I'm sorry…"

"You better be." Pyrrha said. "Now what are you going to do about it?"

Alkaid knew what she needed to say. However, the part of her that was obsessed with her video games refused to let her say it. Instead, she tried to wrack her brain for some other way to salvage the situation.

While she struggled, Pyrrha and Mina looked at her with expectant faces, though Mina's seemed increasingly thoughtful as time passed.

After a moment, as if suddenly realizing something, the goddess of serial killers suddenly gasped.

Both women turned their attention to the girl.

"I see it. Mother's sick." Mina said as she rushed forward to hug Alkaid. "Cousin Dionysus taught me how to see this, but I never noticed it till now because it was small before now. What did he call it? Oh right! An addiction."

The daughter of Hades visibly flinched at that.

"I...I guess I _did_ pick games over you two for a while." Alkaid admitted. Even now, she could feel it, the intense desire to abandon this stressful situation and run back up to the game. It was almost as strong as a siren's call.

 _Why didn't I notice this before?_ The sorceress noted with horror. She felt like an idiot for not even coming to this conclusion? How could she have missed this?

Since when did her childhood hobby turn into an addiction?

"Wait, Kaidy is addicted to gaming?" Pyrrha asked her daughter incredulously. "I knew she could get weirdly obsessed with it but addicted?"

"Remember last year?"

"...Shit, yeah, that stupid thing...ugh!" The daughter of Ares grunted in annoyance.

"I'm sure, Mama." Mina declared confidently. "It's small and weak, but I think it gets stronger whenever Mother finds a game she likes. Once it does… It takes her over like it did this week."

"Is that really an addiction then?" Alkaid mused, trying to reconcile that with the definition of the term.

"I certainly think it qualifies." Pyrrha shot back.

"I suppose." The brunette agreed, still unconvinced. "Though I suppose whether it fits the standard definition isn't the issue here. Alright, so what do I need to do?"

Pyrrha turned to her daughter. "Sweetie, can you kill the addiction?"

The girl frowned and thought about it for a moment before shaking her head sadly. "I don't think so. I could try but I'm not sure it'll work. I'll need to ask Cousin Dionysus in our next lesson."

"Please don't stab me." Alkaid joking said.

"I won't Mother, I promise." The girl assured her with a cute nod. "Not unless I absolutely have to."

Pyrrha let out a snorting laugh at that.

Sending her a look that clearly said: It's not funny. Alkaid turned to Mina nervously. _I wonder what else she could possibly_ kill _._

Pyrrha continued ignoring Alkaid's look. "Alright, if that's off the table. Then you'll just have to promise."

"On the Styx?" Alkaid asked with a raised eyebrow. _Considering the situation that's what I'd demand._

"No. Not yet." Pyrrha said after a moment's consideration. "A normal promise will work for now. We'll see how good you are at keeping it first."

She frowned, but Alkaid nodded nonetheless.

"Don't worry so much, Mother! We'll help you keep it." Mina cheerfully comforted her brunette parent. "The next time you forget family time, I'll make sure to stab whatever distracted you to death."

Both parents paused at that.

"...J-Just promise to wait and see if it's important to your mums first okay?"

"Mmhm!"

"Your turn, Kaidy." Pyrrha demanded.

"I promise to limit my gaming and prioritize family time, okay? Satisfied?" Alkaid asked tiredly.

"For now." The redhead agreed, before turning to Mina. "You said there were muff-"

"I'm afraid your teatime must wait, ladies," A voice cut off Pyrrha from the fireplace which flared up and turned green to reveal the face of Alabaster C. Torrington. "Though I must thank my new friend whose advice let me see this amusing scene. She said calling you lot now would give me a nice show and she was right. Now she'll be insufferable. Oh well, I suppose it _was_ amusing enough to be worth it."

"...Fucking little turd. What are you doing in our fireplace magic boy?" The daughter of Ares frowned.

Seeing the familiar face of the son of Hecate, Alkaid frowned. "Wonderful, now I need to upgrade the house's wards again. What do you want, Alabaster?"

The face in the fireplace, shrugged -or as best it could- as he replied.

"Nothing much. Just wanted to let you know that Jane Branwen is currently in my care."

* * *

 **Omake: The Playroom**

"I don't think we should explore guys." Padma said nervously as the group of young adults poked around Alkaid's small mansion.

Alkaid and Mina had gone out to pick up some ice cream for the lot of them. They were a cute scene as they headed out to town. Pyrrha herself had apparently decided to take the chance to workout in the gym after confirming with the group that they would be fine on their own.

As they explored, they'd been surprised by the many artifacts on pedestals all over the place, mostly Greek vases and old weapons. They had known Alkaid was such a collector, but this was well beyond their expectations. Along the way they had also found an indoor swimming pool in the basement. No doubt something Pyrrha used. They were currently searching the east wing which was apparently full of many victorian style guest rooms.

One of particular interest had a water bed and several cushions and other things. Apparently it was a spare room for Alkaid's older half-sister Melinoe. It was directly across the hall from another room that looked like something from a teenage girl's room straight out of a 90s Muggle show, complete with unicorn and oddly goat plushies. Apparently it was a room for her other half-sister, Markaria. At least that was what the elves told them.

"Come on. It's not our fault Alkaid left." Tracy huffed, far too eager to find something to rib on Alkaid with.

Daphne seemed to have a laser focus to her as she no doubt did the same, but probably without the underlying current of hostility.

"Hey guys! I've found a locked door." Ginny called out from down the hallway.

The rest of the clique walked on over and with a quick Alohomora had it unlocked.

The room was surprisingly well lit by the large number of recessed lights in the ceiling. All along the walls were glossy black cabinets.

"What do you think are in those?" Ginny asked curiously. "I mean this is Alkaid we're talking about so it could be anything."

"I'm saying rare magical artifacts." Ethel guessed.

"Grimoires too dangerous or rare to keep in her library." Bruce offered.

"Clothes?" Susan suggested.

"Nah, I'm betting on an art collection." Anthony said with a teasing grin.

"Don't be stupid Anthony." Justin said with a shake of his head. "If that were the case this place would have been set up as a gallery."

"Oh, then what's your guess?"

Justin shrugged. "I'm with Ginny. It could be anything."

"Why don't we stop guessing and just find out." Padma said with a sigh as she walked over to the nearest cabinet and pulled it open.

What she found inside made her blush hard and slam the door shut.

"What's with that reaction?" Daphne asked with a raised eyebrow and pulled the door open for herself. "It can't be that ba-"

She was unable to finish her sentence as she stared in shock at the various dominatrix outfits and the collection of whips hanging inside the closet. She wasn't the only one who had lost her voice at the sight as most of the party had likewise been stunned into silence

"Wow! I never knew that Alkaid was that kinky." Bruce noted with a smirk as he headed over to another cabinet. "What else does she have here I wonder."

Before the others could stop him, Bruce opened it to reveal a chest of drawers within and promptly pulled one out.

"Sweet." The man said with a whistle as he looked down at the dozen or so dildos -of different shapes, sizes, and color- packed into nice padded recesses set into the drawer. "That's quite the collection."

Luna likewise had not been frozen in shock, but unlike Bruce was taking a little longer to decide which cabinet to investigate. Finally deciding on a cabinet across the room from the one that had first flummoxed the group.

Inside she found a large number of fetish outfits neatly hung up in the cabinet. There was everything from sexualized nurse and maid outfits, naughty schoolgirl and witch outfits, and even doggy and kitty outfits with strategic cutouts that provided ample access to a woman's private areas.

"I'm most certainly going to ask Alkaid and Pyrrha where they got all these wonderful outfits." Luna said gushingly, her grey eyes sparkling. "I'd look wonderful in most of these wouldn't I, Ginny?"

The aforementioned redhead just nodded even as she blushed as red as her vibrant hair.

"I wonder if they are open to threesomes?" Luna wondered out loud. "We _are_ at the age where we typically experiment aren't we?"

"Not now, Luna." Daphne chided her as she too went to open another drawer, but the slamming of a door stopped her.

"Hey guys! What the heck are you doing in our playroom?" Pyrrha asked angrily even as she blushed brilliantly.

"Pyrrha, do these come in a smaller size?" Luna asked as she held up a naughty kitty outfit with a sexy leopard print all over it.

"Put that back and get out of here! Now!" Was the shrill reply as Pyrrha pulled her wand on the others. "Out!"

With a hail of stinging jinxes flying after them, the former Hogwarts schoolmates fled out of the room.

* * *

 **Done and done!**

 **Thanks to the team of Nameless and Axios as always!**

 **Man, what a chapter huh? Some nice slice of life, some CD and arguing, addictions coming to light and oh yeah, a kidnapping. Just a regular friday night for our heroines and tiny goddess of murder death kill.**

 **Nameless: So the sirens made a reappearance and Blaise has acquired one for a mate. And they give another practical demonstration of how inhuman they are, by showcasing how they are utter nymphomaniacs. Before anyone calls us out on having excessive lesbians again, please remember that we're doing this not for any political leanings but because we are totally hot for yuri.**

 **Man, he's the luckiest butler ever huh? Until later down the line since they're sucking his life force and all. So anyway, our lovely little family had an argument. I know, sad, but we have been building up Alkaid's addiction to gaming, it's kind of her defense mechanism, her retreat in a way. Is it a good thing? No. Playing around with it is interesting at times, but it's time we addressed it. Plus, FUCK Sonic 06, woewneondniqnroquerhvqoevuh!**

 **Nameless: Now, some readers apparently hate CD of our characters. They prefer that they remain unchanged from the start of the fic all the way till the end. To these readers, I would like to ask whether they themselves have changed as a person over the last eight years? Because that's the time that's elapsed for Alkaid. Even more so, this period involved her entire developmental years! Of course she'd change and significantly. If you do not like this then I honestly do not think any of our stories will appeal to you. We strive for a reasonably high degree of realism and so this will be something you'll encounter in all our fics. Whether that's acceptable to you or not, that's up to you.**

 **And onto the Omake. Let's be real guys… Did you honestly think Alkaid wouldn't have one made up? Please. She likes her tools readily on hand, daddy has taught her well, along with her nannies XP And don't forget, there were more than three cabinets in there, hehehe. Though what outfit do you think Pyrrha would look in best?**

 **Nameless: To be honest, every healthy relationship should involve some variety. For some like Pyrrha and Alkaid this includes toys. Which is actually quite a common way for couples to spice up their relationship. That they'd have a whole room dedicated to them is a little excessive, but they're rich and they are entitled to using their wealth as they see fit.**

 **Now, for the cliffhanger… Yes, the Titans, or at least their demigod underlings, in this case Alabaster, has kidnapped Pyrrha's mom for no doubt nefarious things! Stay tuned!**

 **Nameless: We guarantee it'll be exciting. Look forward to it.**

 **Well, you know what to do! Smash that review button and tell us what you love! Peace of my peeps!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson or Harry Potter.**

 **Consul of the Underworld: Grinding Phase**

 **Chapter Eleven: Castle Crashers**

 **Beta: ShadowofAxios**

* * *

It had been a couple of frantic weeks, as Alkaid and her family desperately worked to locate Pyrrha's mother, Jane, in a bid to rescue her from the clutches of her titanic kidnappers. At the same time, they were hearing disturbing news from Camp Half-Blood about Thalia Grace's tree having been poisoned and how its slow death was affecting the wards keeping Camp safe. Already monsters that the magical protections should have kept out were increasingly wandering into the Camp's boundaries in search of the demigod meat they coveted.

The Campers were managing to keep them at bay for now with regular patrols of the Camp border, but that wouldn't last. Sooner or later, a monster would slip past. As Camp's resident sorceress, Chiron and the Campers had reached out to the daughter of Hades on multiple occasions for help. However with Jane being held hostage, her hands were tied.

Which was probably exactly the outcome that the titans wanted.

Thankfully, last they'd heard a Quest had been sent out to retrieve the Golden Fleece from the Sea of Monsters to heal Grace's tree and with it Camp's wards. Alkaid and Pyrrha itched to help the questers in some way, but again were held back by the threat to Jane's life.

Desperate to free Jane and resolve the situation, the family had been working tirelessly to track her down.

To that end, Alkaid was, as she had so often since the kidnapping, bowed over a map of the world trying to scry her location.

"Hopefully, with these things we retrieved from her house we'll be able to finally get a fix on her location." Alkaid tried to reassure herself and her family, even as she let her magic resonate with the traces of lingering essence that Jane had left behind on the toiletries they'd recovered from the wreck of her house.

"That's what you said about the last batch of stuff from mum's place." Pyrrha said sounding almost despondent as she paced the room nervously. "What's taking so long anyways? I mean it can't be so hard to scry where she is, right? You've found other people more easily before."

"Other people didn't have whatever protections Alabaster has put up."

"So he's better than you?"

"At divination and countering it? Possibly." Alkaid admitted. "The field isn't my forte. Besides, we shouldn't discount the fact that he almost certainly has powerful backers. Perhaps even a titan or traitor god."

Pyrrha turned to Mina, who was sitting in a chair nearby with a worried look. "Come on, Kiddo. You can do something, right?"

Mina shook her head, her hair shifting back and forth. "I don't know how Mama."

The redhead walked over to their daughter, grabbing her hands. "Please? You don't have any godly power that lets you find people? Or anything else that can help us find grammy?"

Mina's large eyes looked ready to burst into tears as she shook her head.

"Maybe if we were in the same city…" Mina said with a sniffle. "I can always find who I'm looking for if we're in the same town, but I don't even know which town grammy is in."

Pyrrha wilted at that, prompting Mina to hug her comfortingly even as she cried. "I'm sorry Mama. I'm sorry."

Alkaid walked over and gave her daughter's shoulder a comforting squeeze. "It's alright Mina, this isn't your fault. You're only a little girl goddess, and divination isn't one of your domains."

"I still want to help." The goddess said as she pulled away from Pyrrha to rub at her teary eyes. "I wanna stab people Mother. I wanna! I wanna!"

"You'll get your chance. When-"

"Wait, 'Kaidy. Are you saying if we get a god who is actually good at divination to help then they could help us find mum?"

"Possibly." Alkaid replied cautiously. "But there are risks to doing that.".

Pyrrha looked at her with desperate hope. "Hey, if it works it works. We can worry about consequences later."

The daughter of Hades winced at that. "Pyrrha, the consequences are no joke."

"So? Like I said, we can worry about them later. Right now, rescuing my mum is the most important thing." Pyrrha demanded. "So who to ask? Do we start from the bottom or go right to Apollo? I mean, Melinoe is dating him right? She can pull a favor?"

Putting her foot down, Alkaid said, "No. This is why I haven't considered this. If we mix the gods into this that'll lead to new problems. Alabaster is working for the titans, so one of them is likely masterminding or overseeing this operation. Bringing a god in would give the titan free reign to do whatever he likes. The Ancient Laws limiting what the other side can do is our biggest saving grace right now. Do you want your _mortal_ mum caught in the middle of a fight between a god and a titan?"

The daughter of Ares balled her hands as her shoulders shook. She glanced at Mina and asked. "Isn't Mina already escalating things?"

"If she joined the rescue itself? Yes, but right now she's not exactly been helpful." Alkaid informed her lover while shooting her daughter an apologetic look.

The tiny goddess let out a whine and crossed her arms. "I wanna save grammy though!"

With a placating smile, Alkaid sadly said. "I'm sorry sweetie, but you can't. At least this time."

"But that's about them helping us in a fight, there shouldn't be a problem just getting their help in finding out where she is, right?"

Alkaid mulled this over. Pyrrha was technically correct.

"I mean, heroes ask the gods for favors all the time and get help half the time. So it shouldn't be an issue."

"It would give the other side a free action, but you're largely correct." Alkaid admitted as she thought the matter through.

"Then let's do this!" Pyrrha demanded eagerly. "How do we get in touch with Apollo?"

"I don't know." Alkaid admitted and pulled out her phone. "But my Father certainly will."

She didn't even get a chance to hit speed dial when a flaming boar's head appeared in their living room. It seemed Ares finally had something to tell them.

The demigods bowed before it while Mina murmured something about bacon.

"I'd advise you not to try little granddaughter." Ares said with a smile that looked odd on a boar's head. "It'll burn your tongue."

Mina put her daggers away with a pout.

"Lord Ares-"

"Get up, maggots. No pleasantries today. Hup-to." The boar head growled and as commanded they stood up. "So bad news. No gods are helping you today. We can't do it."

"Can't or won't?" Pyrrha half growled and half sneered.

The boar's head turned to her.

"Don't get mouthy with me, girl." Though the head looked pleased by her display. "I'll let you off for now since this is a shit situation. As for your question, it's a can't situation for the gods. We, myself included, can't go looking for her. Couldn't even scry where she is. We've tried, but got nowhere. The Hecashit kid must have some serious magical bullshit going on with him to pull that off. Apollo's seething that a brat's outsmarted him somehow."

The daughter of war snarled. "I'm going to rip that shit's head off his shoulders for this!"

"You damn fucking better, girl." The boar's head squealed as it disappeared.

"Don't worry, Pyrrha, you'll get your chance. I assure you of that." Alkaid told her with a comforting one armed hug. "But first, we need to come up with a plan."

"Hello, slaves of the gods." The annoyingly familiar voice of Alabaster C. Torrington called from a rainbow hovering in the air where Ares' boars' head used to be.

"Hello Titan whipping boy." Alkaid cooly returned the greeting. "Come to taunt us? I didn't know your ego was so tiny."

The son of Hecate smirked. "Hardly, just wanted to remind you to stay away from Camp no matter what or Ms. Branwen will pay the price."

"You bastard, you better _pray_ to mommy I never see you face to face. I swear, not even the Furies could do what I'll do to you." Pyrrha snarled, with livid look in her reddish brown eyes that could give even monsters pause.

The son of magic just chuckled. "Yes, I'm sure you will but you'll need to find me first."

"Pyrrha." Alkaid hissed at her warningly, quelling her for the moment. "Alabaster, why the sudden call? Something happened that has you worried?"

He had a good poker face, but she could see the small flinch in his eyes. Something had him rattled.

"He's scared." Mina spoke up, her yellowish green eyes glowering at him.

"The questers do something to spook you, eh, Alabaster?" Alkaid said tauntingly, mirth in her eyes. "Is Castellan throwing a fit?"

"It's not Castellan I'm worried about. Circe is a lot scarier than he could ever be." The man whispered unconsciously, before catching himself.

"Ah, there it is." The brunette smirked. "Did they somehow make sister dear look stupid?"

"Shut up! Just stay away from Camp and the questers, is that clear?" Alabaster demanded.

"And so we come full circle to the real reason for all this." Alkaid clapped her hands, looking pleased. "Is your little _rebellion_ so afraid to have me at Camp? I must be quite the boogeyman."

"Don't flatter yourself! It's your pet goddess that's the real threat."

"Boo!" Mina giggled, a mad gleam in her eyes. "He's a scaredy cat! I wanna stab him lots and lots!"

"We can make it a family event." Alkaid supplied to her silver headed daughter. "Now, say goodbye to the dead child, Mina."

Waving merrily, Mina smiled. "Bye-bye victim!"

Before Alabaster could rebut, Alkaid waved her hand through the image, cancelling the I.M.

* * *

"That uppity bitch!" Alabaster fumed as he stormed down the corridor passing by windows looking out at the rough seas of the North Atlantic far below.

He like his compatriots were currently based out of a iron-and-stone castle floating over the Atlantic Ocean. It looked like nothing more than some kind of strange cylinder created out of a dozen floors of varying sizes that stacked straight upwards with a circular base floor that had a diameter of one kilometre. The floors kept shifting though, swapping places in random patterns with the exception of the top and base floors. The bottom floor was a cog shaped floor that functioned primarily as a harbour and the top floor consisted of a single large sandstone keep within which he currently resided.

 _Didn't she know the situation she was in? How dare she act like she had the upper hand!_

"Leave it to a demigod raised by a god to act just like one of them." He spat as he crossed the threshold into a meeting room that looked like it came right out of a madman's mind. It was a garish mix of styles that should have clashed terribly, but somehow managed to still remain somewhat attractive.

Then again, this place did belonged to the goddess of discord herself. So the odd style was to be expected.

"Hey hey, if it isn't the little street magician. Pull up a chair, punk." A voice snickered at him. It belonged to what could only be described as a horse shoved into a suit. It was flanked by three other similarly dressed horses who laughed alongside their compatriot.

These were the Mares of Diomedes, legendary man eating horses. Though they preferred to go by the name Mare-Do-Wells these days, which fit in with their chosen theme of cosplaying as 1920s mafiosi. Complete with their '20s style suits which had been specially tailored suits to match their equine frames. A look which was only slightly compromised by a harness where a saddle would be that he knew housed their weapons.

Their look was surreal and even humorous, but considering how dangerous he knew they were he was not about to mention that to the volatile horses. Not after he saw them tear a poor child of Morpheus apart after he had made the mistake of mentioning their fellow talking horse Incitatus in their presence. Apparently they had a deadly rivalry with the legendary horse of the Roman Emperor Caligula.

"Yes, Alabaster, please take a seat." Eris, the goddess of chaos, discord, and strife and their host said pleasantly. She was a tall, beautiful woman with gleaming eyes and a smile like a serial killer. She was dressed in a black toga, and was lazily smoking a cigarette. She looked down on them with that unnerving smile of hers from her throne as it floated around the room in random directions.

"So? How was your little talk? Was the daughter of Hades happy to see you?" Eris laughed. "No, no, you look angry! Aw, did she put you beneath her heel? She likes doing that. Now if only she wasn't half mortal she'd make a pretty good goddess."

"She _does_ have the attitude for it." Alabaster agreed as he took a seat.

"Enough talk about her." The leader of the Mares, Capo, said dismissively.

"Aw, but she makes you all upset. I like it." Eris beamed and let out a small deranged giggle.

"Boss, please." Capo clapped her hooves. "We've got business to discuss."

Eris waved her hand in a half hearted apology, and indicated that the mare could continue.

"So my plan is going well, no?" Capo said proudly.

"It's doing alright so far, but plans don't always go your way. Isn't that what makes them fun?" The goddess cocked her head as she floated upside down.

 _Especially with you around._ Alabaster thought and blanched as she winked at him. _Shit, of course she'd read my mind._

"You worry too much, Boss." Capo reassured the goddess. "I'll be perfectly able to handle any situations that arise."

"Really? I certainly hope so." Eris asked with a teasing smirk as their surroundings shook violently, even as she teleported away.

Suddenly the doors burst open and a fire breathing horse canted into the room as it screamed anxiously, "We're under attack!"

Alabaster shot an annoyed look at Capo for jinxing them.

"Don't you worry, magic boy." The leader of the Mare-Do-Wells said with confidence. "I have this covered."

* * *

"How did you even get this?" Pyrrha asked incredulously as she eyed the blueprints for Eris' Atlantic palace.

"Athena was being in a generous mood." Alkaid informed her lover. "After I tracked Alabaster's I.M. back to Eris' palace, I immediately contacted her and asked for her help. She sent these over a few minutes later."

Pyrrha snorted, "Please, from what you told me, she thinks you're amazing."

"I wouldn't say amazing, more like she respects me for being a fellow academic." The brunette smiled.

"Uh-huh."

"Anyway, we have the first step to extracting Jane." The daughter of Hades pursed her lips. "What we have to truly worry about is what's holed up in the castle. Knowing Eris, she has some crazy monsters locked away for her amusement."

"Well, lucky for you two I'm in a generous mood then." A familiar gruff voice from behind the two women said.

"Dad?" Pyrrha said in surprise, spinning around to see her father, Ares, dressed in his favored thuggish biker guise.

"The one and only." The god of war replied with a smirk.

"Lord Ares." Alkaid dipped her head in respect and gave him a curious look. "Am I to assume you are here to offer assistance?"

"I'm not." He bluntly told them and thumbed outside. "Someone else is though."

Taking his cigarette out of his mouth, he tossed it out a nearby window where it phased through the glass as if it wasn't there. It fell to the ground and where it touched the earth suddenly the ground cracked open, making a noticeable fissure.

Hands emerged from the crevice as figures began to crawl out of it. Slowly but surely, a horde of gaunt grey skinned warriors pulled their way out of the Underworld.

 _Spartoi_ , Alkaid noted with some shock. She'd never seen so many of them in the mortal world at any one time.

"See, these guys just happened to be here." Ares said with a smile, before gesturing behind him where a incredibly buff Spartoi with a impressive beard dressed in full Hoplite armor had appeared out of nowhere. "Don't care what you do with them. Go kill crazy."

With that, he disappeared in a flash of red flames.

Pyrrha had a soft smile on her face.

Alkaid didn't know what to make of it, but she assumed that Pyrrha was seeing this as much as a gift Ares could offer her.

"So ladies, what's your plan of attack?" The Spartoi in the room asked as he stepped up to the table where they'd laid out the blueprints. "Oh, the name's Leonidas by the way."

"Leonidas!? As in Leonidas I of Sparta, the guy who fought in the Battle of Thermopylae with his famous three hundred?"

"Indeed." The skeletal jaw clicked into a grisly smile.

"Welcome to our home, Your Majesty." Alkaid greeted with a faint smile. "As for our plan of attack, with you and the three hundred, it seems sneaking in like we originally planned is shelved for now."

The famous king just shot them both a supremely unimpressed look.

Alkaid felt a flash of embarrassment at that. While she was a skilled planner, she wasn't exactly a military genius.

"Amatuers. Going into an enemy stronghold two strong? While your gods given gifts are boons, even numbers and poor planning can kill your lot."

"Perhaps you can help us then?" Pyrrha said defensively.

"Yes, I suppose I will have to take charge now won't I?" The undead king said with a resigned sigh.

* * *

After a grueling climb up the nine preceding floors of Eris' castle, Alkaid, Pyrrha, Leonidas and the three hundred, had finally made it to the top floor and stood outside the imposing sandstone keep that made up the majority of the floor.

"That was… far too easy." Alkaid remarked, looking around uneasily. "There should have been at least some resistance to simply Portkeying in like this."

"Easy? Really? Did you forget the hordes of monsters we've just had to fight our way through?" Pyrrha snapped.

"Your lover is correct, daughter of my lord, it was too easy." Leonidas said in support of Alkaid. "I suspect Eris let us in on purpose. As a goddess of discord, she likely wants this fight."

 _That's all the more unsettling._ Alkaid thought pensively.

The sound of beating wings had the small army look up to the sky and caused them to groan in frustration. Even more flocks of the metallic Feather-Shooting Birds were flying in to attack them. After having fought their way through what must have been hundreds of these particularly annoying monsters, they were very tired of facing the metallic avains.

As one the Spartoi raised their shields over their heads to protect them as the birds began shooting their knife like feathers at them like arrows in repeated strafing runs.

"Horses!" Pyrrha warned as a group of the equally annoying Fire Breathing Horses poked their heads out of murder holes in the keep's wall and rained hot flames upon them.

" **Incantare: Testudo.** " Alkaid incanted as a series of overlapping rectangular magical shields formed in front of their formation and protected them from the horses' flames.

The streams of fire simply splashed against the secondary shield wall. Nevertheless the flames started to heat the area up quickly causing Alkaid and Pyrrha to become increasingly uncomfortable, but the Spartans being undead were completely unfazed.

"These guys are a lot better organized than the ones before." Pyrrha noted with a frown even as she tried to shoot spells through the murder holes to take out the horses hiding behind the keep's walls.

"They're keeping us pinned." Leonidas observed. "We need to break up their ranks."

"I've got this." Alkaid said as she summoned her Grimoire into her left hand to help her focus. Raising her right palm, she conjured a series of magic circles in front of it even as another set appeared behind her. At the same time, magical energy visibly began to crackle wildly around Alkaid's frame, even as the same power coursed strongly through her own body and lit her eyes up like glowing beacons.

As her spell neared its completion, another three larger magical circles appeared in front of her and all of them started to compact. Once they finished their compression, a two foot wide green beam shot forth.

" **Starbuster**!"

The large green beam drove into the walls of the keep blasting a massive gaping hole in the building and reducing a multitude of monsters into golden dust.

"Go! We'll hold the rest of the monsters here." Leonidas orders the two demigods.

The two half-bloods nodded at the undead king and burst into a run. They had just broke pass the front line of the Spartan Spartoi when suddenly Eris made her appearance.

"Not so fast, ladies." The goddess said cheekily as she waved her right hand at the two young women and sent them both flying with a burst of telekinetic power.

Alkaid quickly summoned a pair of magical platforms and caught both Pyrrha and herself. She turned to confront the goddess, but was beaten to the punch.

"You wretch!" Leonidas exclaimed as he stepped forward with fury. His yellow eyes seemed almost ablaze. "Why have you sided against Olympus? Have you so little honor that you would fight against your own?!"

Eris looked at him in confusion, "Siding? Who said I was with the Titans? I'm just having some fun. A sprinkle of chaos here, a dab of discord there. What's so wrong with that? Doesn't that sound fun?"

"Is that so? Well, then have a taste of the chaos you like so much then!" Leonidas shouted as he charged forward, his three hundred following right behind her.

"Boring." Eris said with a sigh as she waved her hand at the charging Spartans and sent a bolt of energy at Leonidas.

Before it could hit though, a squad broke out of the charging ranks of the three hundred and jumped in front of their king and took the blow for him. They were disintegrated by the blast but they had done their duty and absorbed the power of the attack, allowing their king to continue his charge.

" **επικαλούνται: σκορπιός βέλος** [Invoke: Scorpion Arrow]" Alkaid cast sending an arrow of sliver magic at Eris.

The goddess barely acknowledged the spell though and swatted it aside and instead continued to focus her attention on the Spartans.

"Oh? That's entertaining. Let me applaud you." Eris grinned as she clapped her hands. A shockwave followed the action, sending the remainder of the three hundred sprawling.

"Leonidas!" Pyrrha shouted out worriedly.

"Come on! Don't you want a standing ovation?" Eris giggled with glee as the Spartans attempted to rise to their feet, but couldn't. It was as if some oppressive weight held them down.

" **επικαλούνται: σημάνει διακόπτη** [Invoke: Spell Breaker]" Alkaid cast, trying to break whatever spell the goddess was using to keep her allies pinned. Unfortunately the goddess' magic was simply too powerful for her spell. As a result, the spell back-lashed against her, sending her screaming in agony as the magical energy she'd invested into the spell flooded uncontrollably back into her system and set fire to her nerves.

"Good try, little girl." The goddess of discord said with an amused look as she waved her hand at Alkaid, sending a bolt of energy in her direction.

"'Kaidy!" Pyrrha screamed as she threw herself into the still pain wracked sorceress's side and tackling her out of the way of the attack.

Even as she fell, her nerves frying, the daughter of Hades flicked one of her cards towards the goddess of discord.

In midair, the card transformed into a brace of her Bloody Daggers that screeched as they raced through the air towards the goddess.

Laughing merrily, Eris swatted each blade away with her hands. The daggers impaling several Spartans, and even a number of the Fire-Breathing Horses and Feather-Shooting Birds that had returned to spectate on the goddess' schooling of the heroes.

"Whoo! Nailed them all. Hahaha!"

Struggling, Leonidas pushed himself to his feet. His entire body shook as he sent a grizzled smile to the goddess. "Let's see if I can as well!"

 _How the hell did he manage to do that?_ Alkaid noted with shock as she saw the Spartoi do the impossible and defy the goddess' power.

He cocked his arm back and with a roar threw his spear. The goddess moved to swat it out of the air but somehow failed. Instead the celestial bronze spear pierced right through her palm, carved a bloody cut down her arm and wedged itself into the goddess' shoulder.

It took Eris a moment to register that she had been struck. Her face froze in complete surprise for a second as she looked at her grievously injured arm in shock, before the pain must have hit her like a brick and she screamed.

"You wretched mortal!" She shrieked as she pulled the spear out of her, spilling more of her divine blood. Her body began to glow with a golden light. "I'll incinerate your very soul for this insult! I'll show you just what it means to anger a goddess of chaos!"

"Using your full divine power against mortals?" Leonidas asked with a smirk as he collapsed onto his back in exhaustion and causing the goddess to freeze. "Did you forget that was against the Ancient Laws?"

As the realization dawned upon her, Eris released a murderous scream of frustration.

"You tricked me! Dam-" The goddess screamed in frustration before she was cut out by a scream of agony. One so utterly terrifying that it sent the handful of monsters still in the area running.

"What's happening?" Pyrrha asked, looking at the goddess thrash in pain.

"The Ancient Laws are punishing her for her transgression." Alkaid said, she glanced at Leonidas as he was helped to his feet by his recovering Spartans.

"What are you waiting for? Move!" He shouted to the pair of half-bloods.

Nodding, the couple rushed into the wrecked fortress to save Jane.

* * *

Alkaid and Pyrrha ran through the halls of the fortress, unerringly following the path to the dungeons where the sorceress' magic indicated Jane was being held.

They were just about to turn down the hall that would lead them to the stairs that led to the lower floors of the keeps when the sound of hooves clanking on marble halted their steps.

"More horses?" Pyrrha hissed. "How many of them are there?"

"Focus Pyrrha." Alkaid shot back as a door swung open and an unusual group marched out. At its head was Alabaster and accompanying the son of Hecate were a group of horses… in suits?

 _What is this? Animal Farm?_ Alkaid pondered as she primed her magic.

"Move, you little shit." Pyrrha snarled, looking ready to rip the son of Hecate's head off with her bare hands.

"I don't feel like it." Alabaster smirked. Alkaid could not wait to wipe it off his face.

And by that she meant remove his head from his shoulders.

"Handle Hades' girl, magic boy." The horse with a particularly fancy fedora said, nudging the son of Hecate aside. "We, the Mare-Do-Wells, will deal with Ares' spawn."

With a hand gesture, mist coalesced around Alabaster and formed into a pack of Hellhounds. The salivating dogs of the underworld snarled at Alkaid.

"Come on, do you have the heart to kill your family's dogs?" He taunted the sorceress.

At the same time, the leader of the horses surged forward in a blur and slammed the hooves of its forelegs right into Pyrrha's chest so hard that the blow sent her flying through a brick wall and out into a courtyard. With the whole herd of mafioso horses following after her.

"Pyrrha!" Alkaid called out worriedly.

"Do you think you really have the time to worry about her?" Alabaster asks with a smirk as he snapped his fingers and sent his Mistform Hellhounds charging at her.

Gritting her teeth, a cold glare formed on Alkaid's face as she raised her hand in a gun like gesture at the Mistform constructs. Jerking her hand in imitation of feeling the recoil of an actual gun, she launched bolts of darkness in rapid succession at her enemies.

They pierced through the charging hounds with deadly accuracy, reducing their heads into clouds of bloody mist before they quickly faded alongside the rest of their dead bodies back into the Mist that they had been created from.

"Please, I've been training with hellhounds since I was a child." Alkaid scoffed. "I could kill them in my sleep."

The boy simply sneered at her. "Typical. A god teaching their child to be just as much a monster as they are."

"Oh? Does your Mother fit that category? She helped me learn some of my magic after all." Alkaid happily threw back in his face.

"Of course. Mother never lies about what she is and what she does. Something that few other gods can claim."

"Oh gods, lose the soapbox already."

"How about I do one better." The son of Hecate said with a smirk. " **Incantare: Templum Incendere**. [Enchant: Temple of Fire]"

Alkaid immediately felt her Grimoire heat up, but she reacted swiftly.

" **επικαλούνται: σημάνει διακόπτη** [Invoke: Spell Breaker]." The magic of her spell easily overpowered his fire spell, canceling the rising heat that had been affecting her spellbook.

Just as swiftly, she returned the favor with a spell of her own.

" **Incantare: Crucifixionis** [Enchant: Crucifixion]."

Mist immediately coalesced around the son of magic and shaped itself into a wooden cross. A set of nails with chains attached to them shot out of the cross and pierced the boy's hands and feet. The chains wrapped around his body and dragged him up onto the cross where the chains proceeded to wrap themselves firmly to the wooden frame of the torture device. In short, the spell had effectively crucified Alabaster.

"AAHHH!" The proud son of Hecate writhed in the agony and howled as blood flowed from his pierced limbs.

"Oh look, target practice." The brunette smiled as a magic circle appeared in front of her, motes of magical light collecting into a single brilliantly glowing mass at the center. " **Divine Buster**."

At her incantation, a massive beam of magical energy shot forth from the glowing mass of magic and collided with the tortured boy. The impact ripped him from his pinned position and carried him into the far wall, blasting him through it and sent him spilling out into the air over the stormy North Atlantic.

"That better have killed him...just in case." Alkaid said as she performed a quick prayer. "Dearest Uncle, please have a shark eat him. Thank you."

Looking off to where Pyrrha went, she hurried towards that direction.

"Just be okay."

* * *

"Ugh!" Pyrrha hissed in discomfort as she pushed herself back to her feet from among the pile of rubble that had been the chunk of _stone_ wall she'd just been kicked through.

"Thank the gods that 'Kaidy's wards held. That horse has one hell of a kick." The daughter of Ares noted as she rubbed at where she'd been kicked tenderly.

The sound of hooves had her look back towards the hole in the wall to see the gangster wannabes casually walking over.

They were so damn casual in fact that they were stupid enough to walk right into her range. Smirking and thinking about how their stupidity would be to her advantage, Pyrrha swung her labrys at them.

The lead horse bucked and slammed its forelegs down on the daughter of Ares but Pyrrha easily rolled out of the way. However, this just put her right in front of another of the horses which proceeded to lash out with a kick of its own that sent the redhead flying once more, though not before receiving a nasty wound of its own courtesy of her labrys.

She was just recovering from yet another painful flight through the air when a third horse pinned her to the ground with one of her forelegs and bent down to bite down on the shoulder of the arm holding her weapon.

"Get off me you creep!" Pyrrha screamed as she punched it in its nose so hard that it stumbled back drunkenly.

"Huh? We can't bite through her armor wards?" The horse with the fanciest hat noted almost lazily. "Guess we'll have kill her _then_ eat her."

"Yeah, Capo." The horse whose nose she'd busted replied nasally. "But could we like get a snack first? My nose really hurts."

"Baby." The Capo replied, "But fine. We might need some healing later anyways. Yo, you stupid birds get your feathered asses down here _**now**_!"

At the shouted command, a large flock of the Feather-Shooting Birds that had been such pests up till now flew down into the courtyard where Pyrrha was facing off against these strange man eating equine mobsters.

"Not these pigeons again!" Pyrrha groaned.

However, in contrast to her expectations, the birds did not attack her. Instead, they just circled around the horses. Something that allowed the horses to easily reach out, grab individual birds right out of the air and start eating them. All the horses did this, but it was those she'd just wounded that caught her attention most. As they chewed down on the avian snacks, their wounds healed right before her eyes.

"Um, okay, that was just...whoa." Pyrrha said, taking a few cautious steps back. Cannibal horses that heal from eating other monsters? That was a new one for her.

"What's wrong girlie?" The Capo taunted. "You think you can't beat me and my sisters? Why not run to your magical cannon for help, wimp."

"Oh, I can beat you chumps. It just won't be easy." Pyrrha admitted as she took a few steps forward to start the slaughter. The mares weren't idle though and formed a line before her.

The line bit down on their bits and suddenly from the harnesses on their backs emerged a set of robotic arms that held a set of tommy guns.

"You've gotta be shitting me." Pyrrha said, feeling a cold sweat roll down her neck. Her eyes caught the trigger fingers of the robotic arms move and with a curse, she immediately ran for cover.

A hail of gunfire followed her, colliding with the wards that Alkaid had armored her with, as she dove behind the protection of a stone planter.

"Damn, the wards aren't going to hold out against that kind of fire." Pyrrha noted with a frown even as the sheer weight of gunfire tore the stone planter apart. "Neither is this flower pot."

Rushing out from behind the planter, the daughter of Ares leveled her wand at the horses and launched a barrage of _Bombarda_ s at the monsters.

Unfortunately, her spells were being intercepted by the Feather-Shooting Birds by sacrificing their lives to absorb them with their own bodies. Even when her spells connected, the Mares simply devoured some of the surviving birds to negate any damage they caused. Watching the wounds closing up as if her exploding charms meant nothing frustrated her to no end.

 _Are those birds sticking around just to be eaten?_ Pyrrha noted as she dived behind a statue of Eris. _They gotta be since they aren't even attacking me. Shit, that's messed up, even for monsters._

An idea came to mind as she glanced at Akoúo̱. Smirking, she pulled out several potion vials that gave off a glittering glow and threw them right at the horses.

"Do you think grenades will help you?" The Capo replied dismissively. "Huh, you can't even throw straight."

"Those ain't grenades, you idiot horse." Pyrrha shot back as she pointed her wand at the potion vials which had landed halfway between herself and the monster's firing line. " _Bombarda_!"

Her charm shattered the potion vials and as they did so unleashed great flashes of light. Just like a flash bang.

The horses shouted obscenities as they were blinded by the light and the birds' flight became irregular. Pyrrha however was smart enough to shield her eyes against the light, allowing her to take the opportunity and charge at the blinded monsters.

They barely got to whinny as the daughter of Ares closed.

With one mighty swing of her labrys she decapitated the first horse she reached. The sound of its body collapsing into golden dust must have tipped its nearest comrade off as it lashed out with a kick. It was still blind though and its aim was completely off, and it was easy for Pyrrha to spin out of the way.

Swinging her axe once more, she cleaved the horse's offending limb off completely. It reared back in agony and Pyrrha rolled under it, using her labrys to disembowel it in the process. The monster's guts fell all over her in the moments before it turned to dust.

The stink was overpowering but the daughter of war ignored it to press her attack. The smell however seemed to have tipped off the next horse in her sights or it might have just been lashing out in a panic. Either way, it kicked out with its hind legs. Unfortunately for the monster, it still had not recovered from the flash bang potions and like its peer earlier missed. With a bloodthirsty grin, Pyrrha leapt into the air and brought her labrys down with all her might. It found its mark and buried itself deeply in the skull of the horse she was facing, killing it.

In the time that the daughter of Ares took to eliminate the first three monstrous horses, the remaining three horses had finally recovered. However, the redhead wasn't going to let them pin her with their gunfire again so easily.

Tossing another vail of Alkaid's alchemical potions between them, Pyrrha dove away. Unlike the flash bang potions, _this_ vail shattered upon contact with the ground and unleashed a powerful explosion. The horses whinnied and staggered back in pain. They tried to go for something to eat, to recover, but she wouldn't let them.

"Stay down!" Pyrrha shouted and swung her heavy headed axe at the nearest horse. The blade bit into its flesh, leaving a massive wound that stretched from its neck all the way down to its stomach. It gurgled as it fell in a heap, and slowly started to turn into gold dust.

The redhead whirled around, trying to catch the other one but was caught unaware as the Capo rammed its head into her side.

Pyrrha let out a gasp of pain as she rolled along the ground. As she struggled back to her feet, she witnessed the Capo devouring the lingering remains of her dead sister as a means to recover while the other remaining horse was attempting to do the same with a few birds.

"Not on my watch!" Pyrrha roared as she charged.

Throwing her labrys at the still recovering horse, the weapon crashed into the mare's side. It let out an agonized whiny, but Pyrrha had no sympathy for it and wretched her weapon from its body with a sharp pull.

"Fucking glutton shit!" She snapped and brought the weapon down, lopping off its head. Panting, she turned around and stared at the Capo, who looked as fit as a fiddle. "Just you and me now, Glue."

It was a standoff, Horse to Woman.

"I won't fall for your little parlor tricks again, bitch." The Capo snorted, her nostrils flared. "I swear I'm gonna rip out your intestines and lynch you with 'em."

The demigod simply answered by raising Miló and releasing a gout of flames at the monster. The flames weren't enough to kill the Mare but it did distract it, and cause it to scream and rear in pain, which was exactly what Pyrrha wanted.

Running up to the badly burned monster, she swung wide, lopping off one of its front hooves even as the other slammed into her shoulder.

The force of the blow laid Pyrrha out flat, her shoulder blade feeling broken even with her wards. Biting back a cry, she rolled out of the way before she was stomped by its still functioning front hoof.

As the daughter of Ares pulled back, the Capo used the breather to go for some more of the birds, eating them messily as Pyrrha pulled out a bottle of Nectar to chug herself. Feeling the blistering pain in her shoulder ebb away, the redhead made to charge once more at the Mare.

The monster was having none of that and leveling her tommy guns at the redhead, she opened up on full auto. Undaunted, the daughter of war charged headlong into the stream of bullets even as they quickly began to eat away at her wards.

 _Ten feet! Just another ten feet!_ Pyrrha shouted to herself in the depths of her mind as her wards began to fail and the odd bullet slipped through the holes that were opening up in the protective magics that surrounded her to leave her with grazing wounds.

 _Five feet! A little more!_

The wards were all but gone now, with only the tattered remains over her vital areas keeping her safe and even those were on her last legs. But the daughter of war refused to back down even as bullets shot through her body, tapping into the superhuman strength endowed to her by her father she soldiered on, determinedly closing the remaining distance.

Her fortitude got her within strike range once more. Panicking, the Capo lashed out with her forelimbs but Pyrrha spun around the poorly aimed strikes and she continued to close. With a blood curdling warcry, she finally came into range and swung her weapon with all the righteous fury of a daughter fighting to rescue her mother. In a single stroke, she decapitated the Capo and sent its head flying with its eyes frozen in a look of shock.

Despite her injuries, Pyrrha couldn't help but complain. _I had to seriously go Rambo on a fucking horse? Man why can't I fight regular monsters anymore._

Exhausted from the tough fight she all but collapsed against a pillar of a nearby pavilion and pulled out her bottle of Nectar once more. As she polished off the last of the drink of the gods, the redhead's insides felt like they were boiling as it worked its healing magic.

The screech of the Feather-Shooting Birds had her spin in the direction from where she'd been separated from Alkaid only to see a large flock of the pesky pigeons flee in a panic from a barrage of magical bullets.

 _Guess they weren't just here as snacks after all._ The daughter of war noted.

"Pyrrha!" The daughter of Hades called out, running up to her through the rapidly clearing swarm of monstrous birds. Seeing her wounds, the brunette gasped and was by her side in a second, immediately casting some minor healing spells on her. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," The daughter of Ares grunted as she pushed herself to her feet. "Let's just find Mom."

* * *

The couple hurried through the floating castle's dungeons now devoid of any monsters beyond a few hastily dispatched stragglers. As they made their way down the row of cells, it didn't take long for the two girls to pick up voices.

It was the squawking of birds.

"You lot find me annoying, don't you?" A familiar voice said in response to the avian ruckus.

"Mum. That's mum." Pyrrha whispered in relief,

Unaware of Pyrrha's response, Jane's statement was met by a startled squawk.

"Oh, come on. I don't need to understand bird to guess what you lot have been chattering about. So, you stupid cheap KFC rejects better shut your beaks before I get out of here and do it for you!"

The frantic sound of beating wings and shrieks of panic followed Jane's saucy reply.

"Yeah, that's mom alright." Pyrrha whispered to Alkaid.

Coming around the corner to see a flock of Feather-Shooting Birds, Alkaid sighed in annoyance.

" **Divine Shooter**." The sorceress cast and unleashed a barrage of magical bullets that proceeded to reduce the whole flock into piles of golden dust. "Bloody birds. They've been pestering us the whole way up this stupid castle."

"Hi girls." Jean smiled beautifully at them. She looked a little scuffed up but generally unharmed, much to the girls' relief.

Alkaid readied a spell to unlock the cell door, but Pyrrha just sliced the hinges off the door and ripped it open in a rush. Rushing into the cell, she hugged her mother and sagged with relief.

"Gods mom, I'm happy you're alright. I had a freaking heart attack when they told us they had you." Pyrrha said, squeezing the older redhead tighter.

"Come on, sweetie, I'm a lot tougher than I look."

Alkaid looked amused by that. "Speaking of, why were those birds so nervous around you?"

Jane gained a sly look on her face. "That? Well, those birdbrains were the first wave they sent after me when they attacked my house. They weren't really expecting much resistance so it sorta exploded in their faces. Never underestimate a good security system, magic, and a whole lot of guns. Let's just say they ended up with a lot of yolk and bullets to their faces."

The woman sighed. "Then those stupid fire breathing horses came in and got me. Still, they were pretty embarrassed and scared of me the whole time I was sitting here."

Pyrrha laughed at that and hugged her mom again. "Damn, never change."

"You know this explains a lot about how you managed to gain Ares' favor." Alkaid noted as she ran a series of diagnostic spells over Jane to check for anything untoward. "A mortal capable of taking on even relatively weak monsters like the Birds and winning would definitely have managed to catch his interest."

"Please, Ares could barely handle me himself." Jane smirked with her hands on her hips.

* * *

 **Omake: Dungeon Scolding**

Alabaster C. Torrington, son of Hecate and soldier of in the titanic army, stalked down the dreary halls of the dungeons in Eris' floating castle muttering curses at having been reduced to taking orders from a bunch of wannabe gangster _horses_.

How could he, the strongest child of Hecate in his whole generation and thus their leader, be reduced to being an errand boy for a bunch of crazy equines? Certainly the man eating Mares of Diomedes were dangerous monsters, but he couldn't help but chafe at taking orders from a mere animal.

As he neared his destination however, he reined his anger in. It wouldn't do to show their "guest" any sign of disunity within their ranks. Or at least, _he_ was professional enough to not do so.

Coming to a stop in front of the cell holding Jane Branwen, former paramour of Ares and mother of the pesky demigod Pyrrha Branwen, Alabaster put on his most professional mask and gestured for the flock of Feather-Shooting Birds that served as her guards to fly off for a moment and give him some privacy.

"I hear you've been upsetting your guards, Miss Branwen." The magician said without any hint of his annoyance that he was being sent down to handle such a trivial matter.

The redhead woman cocked her head to the side.

"So? It's not my fault they can't even get a meal right. I mean, if they try they could make something edible."

Alabaster felt a scowl come to his face, "...You're a prisoner though."

"So? Does that mean you can't make a decent sandwich? Do me a favor and write this down." Jane sighed with the patience only a mother could have.

The son of Hecate was about to put her in her place when the foolish woman had the gall to just start placing her _order_.

"First off, wheat bread please, not white. Turkey slices, make sure there is some pink to them. Tomato-"

" _ **Incantare: Mitis Dolor**_ [Enchant: Mild Pain]." Alabaster incanted without a hint of sympathy as he inflicted the pain of a bad migraine.

The woman let out a grunt, an annoyed look on her face.

"You listen here, lady, I'm not some waiter! I am-"

Despite her rebuke, the woman had the audacity to interrupt him, again!

"How rude of you to cut someone off as they speak to you. With a spell no less! And kidnapping at your age? Don't you know you're never going to get in a good college with a criminal record? What would your father think, young man?"

He tried, he really did, but he couldn't hide the flummoxed look on his face at that. He was going to tell her off, but she somehow _kept_ talking.

"One more thing. I expect to be out of here by the end of the week and I'll make you pay me back for your dreadful hospitality. Even those Mares know how to treat a lady better than you, young man. You aren't going to find a girl like this unless you end up paying her. So please reflect on your personality. As a parent, it's depressing to see a child behaving so badly."

 _My head hurts just listening to her!_ Alabaster screamed in his mind as he did the only smart thing.

Turn around and walk away.

"Oh? Fine, be that way."

" _ **Incantare: Dolor Magnam**_ [Enchant: Great Pain]." Alabaster cast vindictively as he continued to walk away even as the annoying woman got her just deserts and screamed bloody murder as she endured the pain of being impaled alive.

It was music to his ears.

* * *

 **Done and done!**

 **Thanks to the team of Nameless and Axios as always!**

 **Nameless: So we had an annoying guest review full of expletives on the last chapter and which also questioned whether we had proper families, insinuating that our families were terrible. All this because the reviewer completely failed to read the section on Alkaid being confronted about her gaming addiction correctly.**

 **First, the reviewer missed that Alkaid had suddenly become a recluse for a whole week, which any concerned family member** _ **should**_ **be worried about especially when you consider its to the extent as implied in the last chapter. Alkaid was outright neglecting her family i.e. she wasn't just taking time off to go finish the game, she was dismissing attempts at** _ **all**_ **family interaction in the week in order to do so.**

 **Second, said reviewer also questioned how spending one week on a hobby can break up a family while completely missing that Pyrrha threatening that was essentially making an empty threat. One designed to scare Alkaid and get her to see how seriously she was taking things. You know, the kind of threats that get bandied about in the heat of a fight a lot more than we'd like?**

 **Next, this offensive reviewer said that we had Mina just kill the addiction with her powers and wanted us to instead have Alkaid compromise with the rest of her family on this issue. However, the reviewer completely missed that that's exactly what happened! We subverted the trope and we still get criticized for it?**

 **Lastly, the reviewer also said we don't listen to criticism. Considering how this particular review and many others we dismiss tend not to accurately portray what is in the story how do they honestly expect us to take them seriously?**

 **Okay, enough about that trash of a review. E4E take it away.**

 **E4E: Yes, so the rescue was a success! Between all the monsters, fighting a goddess (or outwitting her) and just dealing with a little punk magician. They did it.**

 **Nameless: I'm a little disappointed we ended up using so few monsters in this chapter. Then again the only groups/units involved in this mission were the Mare-Do-Wells/Mares of Diomedes and their Fire Breathing Horses plus Eris with her personal guard of Feather-Shooting Birds. We could have slapped some more monsters in there, but we wanted to give the impression that each group of the diverse forces that make up the titanic army is actually quite homogenous.**

 **It was a fun scene to build up on, just infiltrating and attacking a god's place of residence. And yes, Alabaster is a total shit. We all hate him, the shit.**

 **Nameless: We ended up cutting a lot of the scaling of the castle itself, because well… It was boring. We could have spiced things up with traps and whatever but with a limited number of monsters to work with, see our reasons for that above, it would've gotten repetitive. In light of that, showing Al, Py and the three hundred fight their way up the floors would have just been pointless bloat. Plus Eris** _ **wants**_ **an epic fight at the top of her castle, so she made things easy.**

 **This ain't no D &D session. Even if I'm a GM and could have set it up, it's not fun to read about.**

 **Nameless: It could have… Who knows? In the end, the bloat issue was what decided it. If we covered it, things might have ended up being two, maybe three chapters. We don't want to get bogged down on this dungeon crawl, not when we have other exciting stuff we want to write next. So we went with a timeskip to cover most of it. Hope you guys don't mind too much.**

 **Well, you know what to do! Smash that review button and tell us what you love! No flames and peace off my peeps!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson or Harry Potter.**

 **Consul of the Underworld: Grinding Phase**

 **Chapter Twelve: Quest for the Fae Wild**

 **Beta: ShadowofAxios**

* * *

After making sure Jane was safely ensconced at their home where Mina was more than ready to, in her own words, "stabitty stab" anyone who might come looking for her with ill intentions, Alkaid and Pyrrha finally felt it was safe to go check on things back at Camp.

They arrived to a scene of jubilation as the whole camp was giving a rousing cheer for Clarisse as she stood under Thalia's tree which had a brilliantly glowing new addition to its branches.

"Is that _really_ the Golden Fleece?" Alkaid asked in awe. She'd known it had been the object of the quest and had heard via a message on her phone from her Father that it had been retrieved for Camp. But looking at it in person still filled her with amazement. She had heard _so_ much about it about the mythical item from the various Argonauts in Elysium, but none of their descriptions did it justice. The sheer life giving power that it emitted was just beyond words.

"It's gotta be." Pyrrha said in equal awe.

Already, Alkaid could see the pine that at last account had been on the verge of death was, while still sickly, already showing signs of renewed health. Hidden among its dead needles were lush new growth and its paling bark was peeling away in places to reveal healthy new wood.

Pyrrha broke away from Alkaid and ran up to her siblings. Joining the celebration by lifting Clarisse in a hug and ruffling her hair in pride.

This unfortunately caught everyone's attention and a large number of them turned towards them. Many of them with hostile looks on their faces.

"Why if isn't Miss Potter?" A son of Aphrodite sneered. "Back at last from her summer holiday? Ready to help us now?"

"Summer holiday? What are-" Pyrrha sputtered in confusion, even as Clarisse shoved her hard and shot her a glare. "Clarisse? What's wrong?"

"You and little Miss Magic abandoning us when we needed you two, is what's wrong, _Sister_!" The younger daughter of Ares said with an dangerous cast to her face. One that Alkaid noticed with some worry that was shared by most, if not all, the campers around them.

"My mom got kidnapped by the titan army! We just finished taking down a group of them while rescuing her."

"A likely story." A son of Demeter said looking at them skeptically.

"Be silent." Alkaid told the boy with a withering glare that made him take a step back in fear.

"That's certainly convenient." A daughter of Apollo said with a sneer.

"Oh fuck you." Pyrrha snapped. "You fight freaking Eris and see how well it goes."

"Well, it does make sense from the titan's perspective to take Lady Mina away from Camp for a while." Malcolm from Cabin Six noted. "Though I do find the claim of Lady Eris of all people arranging a kidnapping just to do that ludicrous."

"At least someone has a brain here." Alkaid said with relief. "And since when has Eris ever been sensible?"

"Ha! She's as mad as I am." Dionysus said as he strolled on over, idly sipping from a Diet Coke can. "And the two are correct. We have confirmed that some gods have decided to join Hermes' whelp in his pointless _crusade_."

"Eris defected?" Pyrrha's brother, Sherman breathed out in shock.

"Not that I know of," The perpetually drunk god replied. "It seems she just decided to play along with them for a bit for some fun. To create some chaos, you know? She's fickle like that."

"Also, Penelope." Dionysus said as he turned to Pyrrha. "Hecate contacted me. She wished to send her apologies for what her son, Alvin, did to you."

Alkaid breathed a sigh of relief at that. Ever since Alabaster and the other Hecate children had sided with the Titans, she'd been worried that their mother had done the same.

"At least Lady Hecate hasn't changed sides." The daughter of Hades said.

"That remains to be seen." The god of wine said. " _She is a Titan_ by birth after all. There's no telling whether she'll choose to side with her kin this time over Olympus."

She knew exactly what he meant, but the brunette prayed that wouldn't be the case.

"Err, sorry to intrude Mr. D." Miranda Gardiner from Cabin Four said, her hand raised hesitantly. "But are you sure that Alkaid and Pyrrha _really_ didn't abandon us?"

Mr. D shot the poor girl a terrible look, complete with flaming eyes, that had her quailing as he replied in a deadly cold whisper. "I. Am. _Sure_ , half-blood. As sure as I'll turn you into a strawberry plant if you don't stop _questioning me_."

Poor girl, or so Alkaid would think if she didn't deserve it for doubting the two. As if they would let their fellow half-bloods be in danger if they could have helped it.

Her sister Katie Gardner pulled the startled girl into a hug and shot a defiant look at the wine god.

"That's not what our mother told us."

"And Demeter is as melodramatic as my Father." Dionysus rolled his eyes, even as a few thunderclaps went off overhead. "You can ask Ares himself if that'd make your little brain feel better. I'm sure he'd share his opinion with you. At the end of a very pointy spear."

Deciding to have some sympathy for the obviously misled children of agriculture, Alkaid asked them a very important question.

"Did your mother actually tell you we abandoned Camp outright?"

"No, but-" Katie said, before cutting herself off as a look of horrified realization spread across her face. "She-"

"Implied it and let you come to your own, incorrect, conclusions?" Alkaid finished dryly.

Katie and a number of her siblings nodded, looks of betrayal on their faces.

"There you have it."

As the realization of their mother's deception set in, the Demeter Cabin quickly exchanged nervous looks and quickly reached a consensus that discretion was the better part of valor this day. Without a word, they slipped out of the crowd of Campers and headed back to their cabin.

"Asses." Pyrrha grunted and turned to look at Alkaid. "Does Demeter hate you that much?"

"No. She hates my Father, so if she can cause him a headache, she would do so." The daughter of the Rich One sighed. She would have to avoid making mention of this to her stepmother since she'd go complaining to her mother over the matter, thus annoying Demeter further and continuing the cycle.

"Well, I'm going to take a nap. Chiron should be back soon, so when he returns go bug him you little cretins." Dionysus said as he turned back to the Big House. "In the meantime, Alkaid's in charge."

"What?" The vast majority of Campers asked incredulously.

"You've been on leave for weeks. It's time to make up for all the time you were gone." The god told her seriously, before patting her on the shoulder. "Don't worry about it. Just don't let the rascals burn the whole place down and you'll be fine."

"Yes, Lord Dionysus." Alkaid said with a small bow.

"And bring your brat over later. It's too quiet here."

"Of course."

* * *

"Is Jane still refusing to move in with us?" Alkaid asked as she sat at a table on the Big House porch and enjoyed the magically ensured good weather of Camp Half-Blood as she worked on some assignments for school.

"Yeah," Pyrrha replied with irritation. "She keeps saying she doesn't want to mess with our family vibe or something stupid like that."

Alkaid just hummed noncommittally.

She could see where Jane was coming from. Now that she was an adult and had her own family, she found it awkward even considering living with her Father on a long term basis. It felt like she would be intruding on his life and be a regression in her own. Well, at least when it was the winter months and her stepmother was home. Any other time of the year, her sympathy for her Father's legendary loneliness overruled any such concerns.

That said, she also felt Jane was being silly. A little awkwardness was something they could live with surely. It was definitely far better than living in constant fear that Jane might be attacked in her own home again.

"Damn it." Pyrrha cursed angrily as she dispelled the rainbow she'd conjured with her wand.

"Still can't get through?" Alkaid asked her lover as gently as she could.

"No," the redhead confirmed. "Dad's totally blocking my I.M.s."

"Well, he did send you that note telling you to go find a way to fix this on your own."

"Don't remind me." Pyrrha said, still fuming, as she collapsed into the chair on the opposite side of the table Alkaid was using. "It's like he totally doesn't care that mom's still in danger."

"Maybe," The daughter of Hades agreed. "Or he just has faith that you can come up with a way to keep her safe on your own."

Pyrrha just huffed in irritation and looked off into the distance with a glare.

"Dad's not like yours in that regard." The braided redhead sighed. "He doesn't care about something like faith. All he cares is that we get things done."

Alkaid nodded. That their fathers had very different ways in how they treated their children was obvious. As point of fact…

"Speaking of Father, he's got back to me with a lead."

That perked Pyrrha up as she turned to her with hope in her eyes.

"It turns out the Fates had recently contacted the Underworld with a message for us." Alkaid told her in a low whisper, gaining a look of shock from her lover.

"Since when?"

"Yesterday." Alkaid said with a shrug and fished out a scroll from her bag. "He passed it to me this morning."

The daughter of Ares took the scroll and unfurled it. Her eyes scanned its contents before going wide.

"They want us to go to Mom's place in two days? And bring Mina with her… cookies? Seriously?"

"They are delicious." Alkaid smiled, trying to lighten the mood. Though she was still shocked they were willing to help just for cookies.

"Yeah but, why do they want to meet?" Pyrrha said with clear uneasiness.

It was true, if the Fates got involved with a matter, whatever that was in store for them couldn't be easy.

"Father was stunned as well, but apparently the Fates have quite the sweet tooth."

Pyrrha nodded. "I'll go tell Mina, she'll probably be excited."

"I'll go with you." Alkaid smiled and grabbed her hand.

* * *

Jane's house had been thoroughly thrashed after the attack by the titan army but thanks to the house elves from Alkaid's home, the place had been cleaned up. Thanks to their hard work, the whole place now looked as if nothing had ever happened.

It was in the impeccably clean living room of the perfectly neat house, that Alkaid and her family met with the Fates.

The three ancient grannies sat on one couch, huddled together as they stared at the family with their beady eyes that held untold knowledge and wisdom. It was certainly intimidating.

"Let us just get to the point." Clotho said with a gummy smile.

"We're here to tell you that-" Lachesis continued for her sister, offering her equally toothless grin.

Both ancient women turned to their sister, Atropos, but she was too busy chewing on her cookie to finish whatever they wanted to say.

"Hm?" The Thread Cutter tilted her head and swallowed. "Delicious. Oh, no one from Olympus can keep your mother safe."

Pyrrha looked aghast by this and grit her teeth.

"Is it because of the war?" Alkaid asked even as she took hold of Pyrrha's right hand and gave it a comforting squeeze.

"Yes." The Spinner nodded.

"There is however, other means." The Measurer smiled.

Atrophos offered her own nod as she finished. "Other powers that might yet help you."

"Who exactly? Other gods like Mina here?" Jane asked as she pulled her granddaughter to her side in a hug. Mina giggled and hugged her tightly in return.

"Not quite."

"But something similar."

"There are more to this land then gods, are there not?"

Alkaid groaned. "You don't mean MI5 I hope."

"Not at all."

"We're suggesting something older."

"And fairer." Atropos finished dreamily, and with a hint of drool at the edge of her mouth.

Jane gained a knowing look. "You mean the Fae. They are after all rooted into the very history of this land.

"Impressive."

"We didn't expect you to be the first to get it, mortal."

Atropos shot Alkaid a cross look. "You just lost me ten drachma, daughter of Hades."

"Oh, don't complain, Tropy." Lachesis said with a smirk directed at her sister. "Just pay up!"

Clotho just cackled in delight as the Thread Cutter fished in the pockets of her dress for the money to pay off her sisters.

"Ahem," Alkaid coughed, regaining the Fates' attention. "But I don't see how the Fae would be willing to help us. All the Fae I know despise me."

The Fates responded by turning into mist that began to slowly fly out the door.

As they departed, they replied in a voice that was now a odd mix of all three women jumbled together, "Go find your friend, the old evil witch of the East. She'll get you a proper introduction to the Fae courts."

The child of Hades sighed, "It seems I'll be paying Baba Yaga a visit."

"Joy." Pyrrha grunted in annoyance.

* * *

Sitting in Baba Yaga's Durmstrang office, Alkaid and Pyrrha sat nervously as they sipped the tea the folk hero had provided.

"So Baba about our request for an introduction to the Fa-" Alkaid began only to be cut off by the infamous Slavic witch who was once more wearing her youthful guise.

"Now, now, there's no need to just jump straight into things. Let's make some small talk first." The old witch chided. "I actually needed your opinion on something. From one educator to another."

That actually caught Alkaid's interest.

"What exactly do you have in mind?"

The old witch's smile turned wicked.

"You see, after the poor showing we had in the last Triwizard, that scraggly bearded schmuck that's our Headmaster has put such training into the curriculum. Sadly, he's getting poor results."

"We don't even know if the Triwizard will come up again for another hundred years." Alkaid reminded the folk hero.

"Bah! Igor doesn't care, he just wants to prepare the school for when it _does_ happen." Baba Yaga said, sipping her tea. "So, I'm thinking of some not so lethal death traps for the kiddies to play with. You torture children for a living, how would you do it?"

The daughter of Hades took a deep breath at that.

"I do _not_ torture children." She corrected first and foremost.

The old witch rolled her eyes at that.

"And for your deathtraps, that's a rather tough call." Alkaid confessed as she could feel her inner torturer bubbling to the surface.

Both Baba and even Pyrrha gave her small looks of disbelief.

Her cheeks grew pink under the scrutiny and she simply took a sip of her tea in response to their gazes. Annoyance settled upon her as she caved in.

"I would focus on long runs for some stamina and then advance into the deathtraps. Maybe going through a field of stunning landmines? Then test their mental fortitude with illusions. Maybe have them be of dragons attacking them. Other then that, regular physical training along with some dueling lessons."

Finishing her small list of suggestions, she continued to sip from her tea cup.

"I'll take all that into consideration." Baba Yaga said with a nod. "I wonder how far that silly Igor will be willing to go."

"I'm sure the Headmaster will make the right choice between student safety and a challenging curriculum."

"He better." The deadly witch of the Slavic forests said warningly. "Or we might need a new Headmaster."

Alkaid and Pyrrha exchanged a look, before they both shrugged. Neither had much love for the cantankerous Igor Karkaroff and based on his Death Eater past alone would not bat an eye if he got himself killed for upsetting Baba Yaga.

Said ancient was quiet for some time as she processed the daughter of Hades' suggestion. Not wanting to intrude, the two demigods waited patiently for her to start up the conversation once more.

"So I've heard something interesting about you lately." The deceptively young looking Professor said with a teasing smile. "Something about you adopting a little girl? A goddess no less?"

"The supernatural grapevine is correct." Alkaid confirmed as she pulled out her wallet and flipped to the picture of her little family that held pride of place within. "Here's a photo of our little Mina."

"Mina? Good name," The immortal said distractedly as she looked at the photo. "A little inappropriate for the goddess of serial killers though."

"We're trying to disassociate her from that. At least at home." Pyrrha added.

Baba Yaga shot the redhead a look that said she thought the other woman was an idiot. "Good luck with that. Honestly, separating a goddess from her domain? How stupid can you get?"

"Hey!"

Alkaid shrugged even as she put a hand on Pyrrha's knee and gave it a squeeze as a reminder to restrain herself.

"We didn't forget her domain. We just want to give Mina a space to enjoy what she wants most, a chance to be a normal, happy little girl."

The folk hero hummed thoughtfully at that. "So you're feeding her madness domain by fostering an environment that will encourage a dissociative disorder?"

Pyrrha bristled at the insinuation, and was shocked when Alkaid nodded.

"To an extent. It was what Lord Dionysus recommended as the best course of action to allow Mina to enjoy the family life she wanted."

"Well, if a _god_ of madness suggested that then it's probably a good idea." The witch conceded with a frown. "Sounds fishy to me though. Then again, a batty god will be a batty god."

"Since when do witches in the woods know so much about psychology anyways?" Pyrrha asked curiously.

"I'm a folk hero, lass." The immortal said with a glare at the daughter of war. "We aren't locked into domains like gods. We can learn new stuff if we want and I've been around a long, long time. Plenty enough to pick up a thing or three."

"And psychology is a great help in teaching." Alkaid noted with a small smile. It was in fact a required part of the training to be a teacher nowadays.

"That too." Baba said agreeably.

"I can see why." Pyrrha said after a moment of thoughtful silence. "By the way, why are you asking after Mina anyways?"

"Oh nothing special." The youthful looking ancient said. "Just wondering if you two need any help babysitting during the summer is all. It gets dreadfully boring up here when the kiddies go home. One can only stalk the woods for lost children to eat so often before it gets old."

"That bit about eating children is a joke, right?" Pyrrha asked with a nervous chuckle.

"Not in the old days~!" Baba Yaga snickered.

"Don't you have lessons to plan or work to mark?" Alkaid asked skeptically. "Surely that'll keep you too busy over the holidays to babysit."

"Bah! I finish all that before the term even ends." The infamous ancient said with a dismissive wave of her hands. "So will you let me watch the girl or not?"

The two parents exchanged a long look, before Pyrrha gave a tentative nod.

"Is this your price for helping us get an introduction to the Fae?"

"I guess it is." The Slavic woman said with a smirk. "You game?"

"As long as she's in bed by ten and she doesn't have too much sugar, I don't see why not." Alkaid agreed.

"And trust us about the sugar bit. Even if it does nothing for normal kids, if Mina gets too much. Well… Let's just say it's a good idea to have things around for her to stab."

"I thought science disproved that." The ancient witch blinked.

Pyrrha responded with a deadpan look. "Then someone should tell Mina that."

"We think the myth of a sugar rush somehow got into her head." Alkaid sighed.

"Well she is a child goddess. You never know whether she's internalized it or not. If she did, you two have my sympathies."

"Save some for yourself if you still want to babysit."

"True there, Alkaid." Baba Yaga said with a rueful shake of her head. "And yes I still want to. I've never babysat a goddess before. I'd like to try."

"Excellent, then you can give us a lead on how to contact the Fae realm as you watch her."

"Mm, those Fae. Of course I know a few people. In fact, there's this brat I heard about that could be a big help to you. If he agrees of course."

"A brat?"

"Yup, Artemis Fowl the Second. His help is never free though, so be prepared for that."

"So where can we find him?"

"Here, let me write you his address. I hope you two like Ireland."

* * *

Artemis Fowl the Second turned out to be a young man who was abnormally pale, even vampiric in appearance, even more so than Alkaid. He had heterochromia iridum, with one blue right eye and one hazel left eye. Dressed in a formal suit, he looked the very picture of a successful businessman or modern day lord who just so happened to be only twenty one years old.

Standing to his right and behind his chair, stood his intimidating bodyguard, Butler. He was a Asian-looking man with a massive shaven head, narrow nose, full lips, and eyes such a dark shade of blue that they were almost black. He stood at almost seven feet tall; had muscles like a Michelangelo statue; a barrel chest that was hard with muscle and tension; arms that looked strong enough to break a bear's back; mammoth hands that were the size and the approximate shape of spades.

Most strange among their hosts though was this warrior's second principal, Fowl's fiancée and elf, Holly Short. She had dark nut-brown skin, cropped auburn hair, and strangely like her boyfriend had heterochromia iridum, with one blue left eye and one hazel right eye. As befitting her race, she had pointed ears, a slim frame, long tapered fingers and a below average height more akin to that of a teenager rather than the grown woman she clearly was as evidenced by the figure showcased in the green formal dress she was wearing.

It was a striking yet unusual group for a meeting.

"Mr Fowl, I'm surprised that Miss Short is here." Alkaid said as politely as she could. She had known that Fowl had ties to the Fae but to be engaged to one? That had been quite a surprise.

"I trust Holly with everything, Miss Potter." Fowl said with a hard edge to his voice. "But that's not your question, correct?"

"Was wondering how you convinced a Fae to marry you actually." Pyrrha admitted. "How did you two even meet?"

"I could write a book about it." Holly confessed.

"Indeed." Artemis agreed. "For your information, Miss Potter, Miss Branwen, we met while I tried to steal some fairy treasure."

"And then went on to save the Fae quite a few times." Holly added with amusement.

The young man shrugged. "Just an added side effect when I was stealing something or another."

The elf just let out an annoyed sigh, but said no further.

The demigod couple couldn't help but feel confused, but decided not to say anything. There was no need to derail the conversation any further.

"So is Miss Short the means by which you'll be helping us make an introduction to the Fae?"

The aforementioned elf blushed at this and shook her head. I'm nowhere near well connected enough in the Fae courts to be of any help on that front. That's entirely thanks to Arty and his feats."

"That and the court's fascination with Changelings capable of magic." Artemis noted with a wave of his hand, as if he was dismissing the significance of whatever his feats might be. Despite Alkaid's best efforts, she had only managed to discover fragmentary accounts of such. Though what she had learned was quite impressive. "Before you ask, I became such thanks to a magical accident."

"With the means presented, let us move on to price, yes?" Alkaid said in a strictly business fashion. "What do we need to pay to visit the Fae courts?"

The young man eyed her carefully, as if trying to solve a puzzle as it were. The room was silent for roughly a minute before Fowl spoke.

"I have heard you are quite the sorceress, yes?"

Alkaid nodded. "I dabble here and there."

"You give yourself too little credit, Miss Potter." Short said honestly. "Even in the Fae courts, your talents are widely known."

"Really? Is this because 'Kaidy has Fae blood?" Pyrrha asked with surprise.

"She does?" The elf blinked in confusion. "Not that it matters I guess, not unless your mother was a Fae. She wasn't was she?"

"No. Just a mortal witch I'm afraid."

"Then, no Fae will bother recognizing you as a relation. It's callous but when we mate with non-Fae, we generally only recognize our children as family."

Alkaid shrugged, she was already technically a bastard, so such a thing didn't bother her.

"So how come 'Kaidy is so famous then?"

"You have the Goblin Queen to thank for that." Fowl cut in, sounding bored with the tangent the conversation had taken.

 _The Goblin Queen? Who- Please don't tell me he means Morgan!? Surely she's not an actual Fae Queen!_ Alkaid thought to herself with some alarm.

"She just complains about you whenever she can." Short snorted and crossed her arms. "It's a bit of a sore spot for her."

"On to the matter of payment," Fowl cut in, sending his fiancée an annoyed stare. She merely smiled at him cheekily.

"What do you have in mind?" Alkaid asked, following the young man's lead and getting back to business.

"I'm sure someone of your ability has a number of magical tomes, yes? I would like some for my own use."

"I do." The brunette nodded. "How many do you require?"

"Fifty-seven."

Alkaid just sent him a cocked eyebrow.

"I'm sorry, but perhaps you are mistaken onto the value of a single magical tome. Especially when the rarity is taken into consideration."

"Or perhaps I am just aware of how much you want to reach out to the Fae courts." Fowl said with a coy smile.

A smile made its way to Alkaid's face, one just as coy as his own.

"...Oh man, Butler, get some popcorn." Short said as her eyes bounced between the two.

The deadly looking bodyguard just reached into his coat and drew a bag that he threw at the elf who immediately caught it out of the air.

"Man, you are always on point." The Fae praised the man as she used her magic to cook her snack.

Butler just gave his mistress a nod.

"You are not quite our only option to the courts, Mister Fowl. Only our first option." Alkaid reminded him.

"Correction, Miss Potter, I am your _best_ option."

"Perhaps, but that does not warrant more than a dozen tomes." The daughter of Hades finally gave her counteroffer.

"Do you take me for a dupe, Miss Potter? I'll need two dozen at least to even consider helping you."

"My collection is quite exotic. Some books contain knowledge that would have most mortal minds reeling. Considering that, a dozen is as many as I'm willing to part with." She told him with finality.

"Eighteen, or no deal." The Changeling countered.

"Fourteen."

"Sixteen."

"Fifteen or I walk."

"Fifteen it is." Fowl said with an agreeing nod.

Short let out a whistle, the bag in her hands nearly empty. "Can we invite her to the wedding? Just for the sheer entertainment?"

"No."

The elf pouted. "Killjoy."

"I'll provide you a catalogue for you to make your selection." Alkaid informed Fowl with a nod.

Fowl nodded back.

"Now about getting you in touch with the Fae courts. Here's what we need to do."

* * *

Like all the other lands of myth, the fae city that Fowl had brought Alkaid and Pyrrha to was a sight to behold.

It contained lush greenery that spread out as far as the eye could see in the form of gardens, parkland and the occasional untamed forest, all of which seemed to blend seamlessly with buildings in a variety of styles that ranged from towers of unknown metals that pierced the heavens and buildings of stone that would not have looked out of place in an authentic medieval city.

In the very heart of the city and atop a small hill was a castle that had been sculpted from the living forest that dominated the region. The trees and other plants had been encouraged to grow by Fae magic into towers, halls, rooms and any other amenity that the castle would require.

The sight didn't particularly appeal to Alkaid's aesthetic sense, though she would admit it was impressive, but she was sure that any satyr or dryad would feel right at home here.

It was within this fabled living palace of the Queen of Elphame that Alkaid and Pyrrha had been granted an audience with the Fae sovereigns, High Queen Titania and High King Oberon and their court.

Which was why the two demigods and their fixers were currently seated in a waiting room adjoining the throne room awaiting their turn to be summoned before the Fae High Monarchs. They had been waiting a good ten minutes already and Alkaid had noticed with amusement the odd way the Fae guards escorting them were reacting to Fowl's presence.

"It seems your reputation as a master thief precedes you, Mister Fowl." Alkaid stated as she eyed the guards who seemed to stiffen whenever Artemis looked in their direction. "They seem suitably cautious with you around."

"As they rightly should." Fowl said with admittedly deserved pride. "Though it is not the only aspect of my reputation that precedes me. I did manage to secure you an audience with the leaders of the Fae courts, did I not?"

"That you did." Alkaid agreed. "I wonder what service in particular you must have done the Fae to have earned such high regard from them."

Short smirk and nudged her fiancé. "He saved High Queen Titania and High King Oberon's lives once, you tend to be in the royal favor after something like that."

Any further conversation was put on hold as the High Monarchs' Herald arrived.

"Mister Fowl, the High Monarchs will see your guests now." The unnaturally handsome elf said, with a shallow nod to the Changeling. "If all of you would please follow me?"

Without waiting for a response, the fae turned and led them out of the waiting room and into the throne room proper. Despite being inside a castle, the throne room felt like it was in the center of a forest clearing. Trees with leaves of multiple hues were scattered around them. Sunlight gently shined down upon the hall from windows of glass set between the intricate crisscrossing canopy of branches that served as its equivalent to a vaulted ceiling.

It was full to the brim with the Fae nobility, the Sidhe, who lined the long hall on either side of a red carpet that ran down its centre to the two high backed thrones grown out of two immense oak trees at the very end of the hall.

Oberon sitting on the slightly lower of the two thrones, was a breathtakingly handsome young man dressed in the finest courtly dress as befitting a king. On this back were a set of iridescent butterfly wings whose patterns seemed to be in constant flux. He was however, much like elves like Short, only as tall as a child.

His wife Titania sat next to him on the higher throne and while still shorter than the average human woman, was tall enough to, if she so chose, pass for a adult albeit short woman. Her long flowing hair was like spun gold and her lightly tanned skin that shined like bronze, made her an example of beauty personified. Dressed in a resplendent green dress and with the dragonfly wings that sprouted from her back, she looked every bit the archetypical fairy queen.

The Sidhe were no less perfect in appearance. While the Fae nobles certainly ran the full gamut in terms of attractiveness from the monstrous to the plain. Each was a model of inhuman perfection. The monstrous Fae exuded menace like the worst Greek monsters and their plain counterparts looked exceptionally, and almost certainly deliberately so, mundane, to the point that they were instantly forgettable.

That said, the vast majority were stunningly beautiful, even the men, and Alkaid couldn't help but feel her long atropified appreciation of the male form coming back to life. The features of these attractive Fae ranged from the full spectrum of human, and the occasional inhuman, features but always seemed to blend them in some way that made the heart skip a beat in sheer appreciation of their gorgeous perfection.

 _I can see why they're called the Fair Folk. The average Fae might be pretty normal, but their nobility are out of this world._ Alkaid noted to herself as she ruthlessly suppressed the feelings the unnaturally perfect Fae stirred in her. Instead, she chose to focus on the looks of distaste so many of them shot Fowl as they passed.

"The Sidhe seem to disagree with their monarchs' opinions on your fiancé." She commented to Short in reply to her earlier statement.

A dark gleam shined in Artemis' eyes at that, making his elven companion roll her eyes.

"That's because Mister Sticky Fingers here has stolen something from most of them. Fae, especially the Sidhe, have long, grudge holding, memories."

Alkaid nodded, she understood what it meant to hold a grudge. She still held one for Chiron after all. She tempered it well with snide comments and double talk, but she tried her best to maintain it. It was also why most of her enemies were already dead so she wouldn't think of them. Nipping a weed in the bud was the one gardening tip her stepmother had taught her that she'd taken to heart.

"Is it really okay to talk while we're being led up the red carpet?" Pyrrha asked nervously, "I don't want to jinx this by giving a bad impression. My mum's life is at stake here."

"Relax, Miss Branwen." Fowl reassured the daughter of war with a smirk that would not have looked out of place on a vampire. "It's a long walk, Titania and Oberon doesn't expect us to maintain courtly dignity the whole way. The Sidhe might, but that's because they're too proud to 'lower their dignity'."

Pyrrha nodded hesitantly in return, even as the expressions of the Sidhe they passed looked even more murderous, if possible, at Fowl's barb.

 _Let's hope Fowl can keep his comments to himself for the rest of this walk. We still have a distance to go and I would like to make it there without being jumped by some Sidhe who he offends past the point of restraint._

Thankfully, Fowl managed to contain himself till they reached before the dias where the Herald announced them.

"Mister Artemis Fowl, Changeling, Master Thief and Friend of the Fae."

Fowl bowed in extravagant way, a playful smile tugging at his lips as he stood.

"Captain Holly Short, Elf of the Short line and patrol leader of LEPrecon."

Short bowed to the High Monarchs, standing straight with her hands behind her back and in contrast to the wisecracking attitude she had demonstrated so far, actually looked professional.

"Lady Alkaid Potter, Demigod of Hades, Lady of the Potter line and Emissary of Olympus."

With a curtsy, Alkaid smiled and stood close to Fowl and Short.

"Lady Pyrrha Branwen, Demigod of Ares, Heir to the Branwen line and Emissary of Olympus."

Pyrrha bowed as well, taking a similar stance as Short so as to act like the disciplined warrior she was trained to be.

Titania, her features literally glowing as she smiled, peered down at them from her throne.

"Artemis, why have you asked to see us in formal court today? Surely you know we'd be more than willing to speak to you in private."

Fowl once more offered a bow as he spoke to the High Queen.

"Of course, my Queen, I just felt that if we were among the rabble it would be more entertaining."

Oberon chuckled under his breath at that and leaned over to whisper something into his wife's ear. Whatever he told her had her giggling along with him in amusement as she turned her attention back to Fowl.

"You're being a fox again aren't you, Artemis?" The High Queen asked with a smirk. "Well, we'll play along. What is it you want, _old friend_?"

Alkaid was no fool. She could see the purpose behind the High Queen's deliberate emphasis on how she addressed Fowl. She was very overtly reminding her court, that the daughter of Hades was very aware was full of people who hated him, that the Changeling held her favor.

"My two friends here have asked me to forward a request to the Fae Courts on their behalf, namely a a plea for protection of the mortal witch, Jane Branwen."

"The daughter of Ares' mother?" Oberon guessed. "Why is she unable to protect her herself?"

"The Olympians are at war, your Majesties," Short informed the High Monarchs. "As a result their resources are stretched thin,"

"With Zeus' abysmal attitude, when aren't the Olympians at war?" Titania joked, and eliciting a chorus of laughter from the assembled Sidhe.

"While true, this time it's especially serious." Short continued. "It's a second Titanomachy."

Oberon shot the elf a serious look at that and got one in return.

"Is LEPrecon monitoring Fomorian movements?"

"Of course, your Majesty. We have eyes and ears out for any and all movements. Thankfully, it seems the Fomorians have not chosen to make a resurgence like their Titan counterparts."

That was certainly a frightful notion. From what Alkaid knew, the Fomorians were a group of hostile and monstrous beings who come from the sea or underground that did battle with both the Fae and the gods of the Tuatha Dé Danann in the ancient past. Or more simply put, their equivalent of the Titans or Gigantes. If they had risen as well… Then the world was truly in peril.

"Why were we not aware that the Titans had returned before now?" Titania questioned seemingly lightheartedly, but there was a undercurrent of steel hidden beneath her tone.

"We've only had suspicions until recently, your Majesty." Short explained. "However, thanks to the information provided by Miss Branwen and Miss Potter, we can confirm that the Titans are once more making a bid for power."

"And thus signalling that another Time of Troubles is about to befall all mythological worlds as the myriad forces of chaos and destruction all awake from their long slumber in response to each other." Oberon said with a sigh. "Though I suppose forewarned is forearmed and the demigods deserve to be rewarded for bringing us this warning. My dear, do you agree?"

"Indeed we do, dear Husband." Titania agreed with a magnanimous nod to the two demigods.

"Then it's settled." Oberon replied with a firm nod, before standing from his throne and floating a little into the air. "Who here among our court is willing to reward these demigods by extending their protection to the daughter of war's mother?"

Immediately, the throne room was filled with the sound of a thousand whispers as the Sidhe began to discuss the matter among themselves.

Pyrrha just looked confused and shot looks between the whispering masses and the two High Monarchs.

Leaning over to her, Alkaid explained, "One of the highest laws amongst the Fae is that the High Queen and High King cannot interact with the mortal realm. So they have the lesser Fae act in their stead."

"Like retainers, right?" Pyrrha said.

"Exactly."

The debate among the Sidhe went on for a few minutes before a teenaged Caucasian boy with classically aristocratic features dressed in a long overcoat over a set of fancy court dress, all in black, stepped out of the ranks of the Fae nobles and onto the red carpet with a bow to the High Monarchs.

"My King and Queen, I would be honoured to-"

Before he finished his statement however, a stunningly beautiful woman with pale gold skin, hair as black as midnight, eyes like liquid emerald and wearing a feral, silver circlet on her head likewise stepped onto the red carpet with a bow and interrupted him.

 _I recognize that aura. It can't be! That's Morgan!_ Alkaid inwardly seethed. Of course she would interfere, the bloody bint.

"Apologies, your Majesties, and to you as well Lus Nam Ban, but with all due respect I must say that the reward does not match the deed. Offering protection to Miss Branwen's mother would be a long term commitment, it seems excessive considering the one off benefit offered by the knowledge the demigods have provided us. Information that I might add we could have easily obtained elsewhere."

"What exactly are you insinuating Sarah Williams?" The Caucasian teenager shot back.

"Merely that it is not the Fae way to strike unfair bargains. In either direction. If the demigods want this boon then they must pay for it with something that truly matches its worth."

The Sidhe exploded into discussion once more at Morgan's, or was it Williams', statement and much to Alkaid's dismay they seemed to largely agree with her. It was silenced however, when Oberon added his own thoughts on the matter.

"The Goblin Queen makes a good point."

Even Titania seemed swayed. "As the Queen of the Fifth Season, she _would_ have experience with striking fair bargains."

Alkaid was ready to argue this, but a hand rested on her arm. She turned to see who it was.

An elegant Caucasian woman with classically aristocratic features, long light blue hair and dressed in a white Victorian dress stepped out of the ranks of the Sidhe with a bow to the High Monarchs and with a quelling look to the demigods turned to shoot a withering glare at Morgan.

"And pray tell, Sarah, what would you think is a worthy price for them to pay?"

A short, handsome man with flamboyant blonde hair in an extravagant updo style and wearing an overly elaborate and unnecessarily tight fitting set of armor stepped up with a lazy bow to Titania and Oberon that revealed the feral, silver crown otherwise hidden in his hair and came to stand behind Morgan.

"Perhaps the Branwen girl could run my Labyrinth? Since it's _her_ mother they are asking protection for, it is only fitting that she be challenged."

Lus Nam Ban frowned as he said, "While the idea of a challenge holds merit, having you two, the Goblin King and Queen, organise it would be unwise considering the past conflict your Queen has with the daughter of Hades."

"Then what would Wyldwood propose?" Morgan shot back. "Though considering how you and your Queen seem so willing to assist them, perhaps we should disqualify any suggestions _you_ make on the suspicion of bias as well."

"We have not spent the better part of a decade decrying Miss Potter's existence at every opportunity, Sarah." The bluenette retorted.

Alkaid was somewhat surprised that their mutual dislike was known within the Fae Courts. It seems Morgan's pettiness was more widely acknowledged than she'd ever imagined.

"No, Lá Glan, you've only spent the last hundred years or so taking in strays and being excessively charitable." Morgan's apparent husband replied, flippantly. "It's almost as if you're making up for something. Or perhaps Wyldwood is just hiding something and is using the age old trick of misdirection."

Lus Nam Ban and Lá Glan both looked furious at the accusation, but besides heated glares at the Goblin monarchs held their cool.

"As entertaining as seeing you all verbally spar with each other is," Oberon said cutting into the argument and gesturing at the enraptured crowd of spectating Sidhe. "We do have other matters we need to discuss today. How about this? In the interest of fairness, _I'll_ oversee the challenge. Is a gladiatorial tournament on the morrow acceptable?"

The Wyldwood and Goblin monarchs exchanged one last set of glares but ultimately nodded in acceptance.

"Very well, then that's what we'll do." Oberon said with a pleased smile. "Now then, Artemis, please escort our guests out so that we can carry on with the next order of business."

"If I may be so bold," Lus Nam Ban said stepping forward and offering the High Monarchs a deep bow. "I would like to offer to house the two demigods for the night."

Smirking now, Oberon nodded. "Of course, of course, I had _totally_ forgotten about making arrangements for accommodations didn't I? Good on you Lus to step up and rectify my oversight. Permission granted."

"Then my Queen and I will take my leave," The King of Wyldwood said with another deep bow while his wife curtised. "Ladies, if you'll follow me."

Offering the High Monarchs their own bow and curtsy, the demigods followed their new allies out of the throne room. Fowl and his entourage following behind them as well.

As they walked past the ranks of the Sidhe, it did not escape Alkaid's notice that Pyrrha seemed stoked by the High King's decision to settle the matter through a battle tournament.

The brunette placed a hand on her shoulder. "It's not that simple, Pyrrha."

"Huh?"

"The High King chose a tournament because while in appearance, fairness is clear to see as it suits a daughter of Ares like yourself well, he'll undoubtedly have the deck stacked against us."

The daughter of the Rich One nimbled her lower lip. For all she knew, her lover would have to face the most powerful of the Fae.

"Are you saying he's setting me up to fail?" Pyrrha hissed in outrage.

"No," Lá Glan informed the furious daughter of war in a soothing voice. "He's just doing the very Fae thing of setting up a fair but near impossible task for you to accomplish."

Fowl had a smile on his face, "Doesn't that make it all the more fun?"

"Arte, how many times must I tell you this, your idea of fun isn't shared by most people." Short told her fiancé with a long suffering sigh.

"Perhaps not," Lus Nam Ban agreed. "But it might just be what we need to allow Miss Branwen to survive and win the High King's tournament tomorrow."

"I certainly hope so." Alkaid said as she shot her lover a worried look, worry gnawing at her heart.

* * *

 **Omake: The Best Babysitter**

"So you're my babysitter today?" Mina asked curiously as she looked at the ancient looking old woman that her Mothers had arranged to take care of her while they were away.

The woman was like super old! Her hair was all white and she was even balding. A lady balding! That only happened when they got super old, right? Her back was bent, her skin was all wrinkled, her teeth was crooked and she was dressed in outdated clothes that only a old person would think looked good.

The old witch offered a grin, "That's right."

"You're really old."

"And you're what? Two hundred something?" The ancient babysitter shot back.

"I'm still a little girl though." Mina said sweetly, spinning on the spot to show off how young she was.

"Well, I can be too." The babysitter said in a suddenly child-like voice.

Turning to the voice, Mina boggled at the sight of the ancient witch who had transformed into a little girl with golden blonde hair that was about her age and dressed in a cute little sundress.

"Can you stay like that?"

"No." The child said dryly as she turned back into her usual old woman form.

"Boring." Mina opined with a pout.

The white haired hag rolled her eyes. "Children these days. Back in my day we'd paddle brats like you, but no! Nowadays they say that'll damage their development, and we should medicate them or use reflection instead, blah, blah, blah. Standards these days. It's just teaching the kids that they can get away without consequences. No wonder kids are all spoiled brats these days."

"I'm not spoiled!" Mina shot back.

The babysitter just raised her eyebrow. "Really, and your mothers don't try to give you everything you want, hmm?"

Mina tilted her head for a moment in consideration, "Okay, maybe I'm a little spoiled."

"At least you're honest," The ancient witch said with a grin. "So the name's Baba Yaga. What do you want to do?"

Twiddling her thumbs, Mina thought about the question.

"You wanna go kill some low-lives?" The child goddess asked. When it doubt, do what you're good at. At least that was what Mama told her.

"Huh, haven't gone on a killing spree in a good while." Baba Yaga muttered in consideration. "Heck, why not? I'm sure Alkaid won't mind, considering that she has a sadistic, murderous streak a mile wide of her own."

Mina nodded eagerly in agreement. She loved hearing how her Mother could go on rampages. It was a little too bad that Mother always seemed to try to avoid letting her see when she went all out.

"Alright, pack all your little knives, kiddo! We're painting the town red, literally!"

"Yay!" Mina cheered, her arms in the air with excitement.

Baba Yaga pulled out her pestle, "Now, how fond are you of cookies?"

"I love it! Making them especially."

"Oho? Well, then I'll be sure to share some interesting new recipes." The formerly man eating witch said with a bloodthirsty smirk. "Let me teach you how a _real_ witch makes cookies for bad people."

* * *

 **Done and done!**

 **Thanks to the team of Nameless and Axios as always.**

 **Ah, Artemis Fowl. Never really read it so I'm leaving it up to Nameless to pick up my slack on this front, but I've got some interesting thoughts for it. Still, what this guy can do is nuts to me. Leave it to the super smart people to be the weirdest.**

 **Nameless: Well, well, so Morgan has made a reappearance. We did say she would still be relevant, no? Plus, we have hinted at who she's an expy of in the past, but I'm guessing that it's only here that most people have drawn the conclusion that she's actually Sarah Williams from the classic 80s film** _ **Labyrinth**_ **.**

 **Even I didn't know that until he told me. The clever sneak! And I honestly love the plug in with that.**

 **Nameless: To be fair, I** _ **did**_ **tell you. You just didn't get the reference or didn't think it was particularly relevant.**

 **Nope. No I did not.**

 **Still, you know what to do! Smash that review button and tell us what you love! No flames and peace off my peeps!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson or Harry Potter.**

 **Consul of the Underworld: Grinding Phase**

 **Chapter Thirteen: Unkind Fae Kindness**

 **Beta: ShadowofAxios**

* * *

Lus Nam Ban led the group into a detached guest house in the grounds of the palace. It was a small, quaint and understated log cabin. It did not seem particularly fantastical, unlike so much of the Fae Realms, that is until Alkaid noticed how it was half submerged in a lake of some kind of magical water.

"It won't get you wet." Lá Glan told Alkaid with a reassuring smile. "It's just so I can do _this_."

With that she walked into the 'water' and her legs immediately transformed into a eel like tail that trailed out of the skirt of her dress like a train.

 _If I'm not wrong, that means she's a Merrow._ Alkaid observed with fascination.

"Ah! This is so much more comfortable." The blue haired queen said as she shot back and forth through the 'water' in what Alkaid concluded must be the equivalent of stretches.

"Agreed." A large panther sized cat with a prominent white spot on the chest of its otherwise jet black coat said in the space where Lus Nam Ban had been standing moments before.

 _A Cat Sith? How in the world did a Merrow and a Cat Sith end up getting married!?_ Alkaid boggled. _They don't even live in the same environment!_

"You shapeshifters," Short said with an exasperated sigh. "I honestly don't know why you lot like to stay human so long if you find it so uncomfortable."

"Because it's convenient of course," The Merrow queen said with equal exasperation. Alkaid wasn't surprised, she supposed it was probably a common question.

"Hmm, dear, it seems we are missing something." The Cat Sith king said towards his wife.

Said spouse just chuckled. "She's probably just out exploring. She'd have sensed our return and will be back soon."

Right on cue, a beautiful young Caucasian girl with long, dark hair and bright black eyes burst out of the surrounding forests and flew on the small set of dragonfly wings on her back right into Lá Glan's waiting arms.

"Mama!" The Pixie girl shouted excitedly as she gave the Merrow a hug.

 _She looks precious._ Alkaid smiled sweetly at the sight. Dressed up in a monochrome safari outfit complete with a black and white pith helmet, the Pixie looked absolutely adorable. _Reminds me of Mina._

Glancing at Pyrrha, she could see the smile tugging at her lips as well. Gods she just wanted this over with so they could be with their little girl.

"Greetings Princess Dìomhaireachd," Fowl greeted with a bow. "I hope you enjoyed your hike through the woods this pleasant morning."

Pulling back from her mother's hug a little, the adorable little girl shot Fowl a heart melting pout. "I told I you to call me Dio, Arte."

Fowl shifted uncomfortably at the reminder and Short chuckled. Leaning over to Alkaid, she whispered, "Arte won't admit it, but he's a sucker for cute little girls especially pixies and elves. He'll be a total pushover with our daughters, considering they'll be either or."

"What do you mean?" Pyrrha asked in confusion. "Won't they all be elves like you?"

"It's not so simple with us Fae." Lus Nam Ban explained, even as he kept a amused eye on how his daughter was wheedling a promise out of the usually stoic but currently panicking Fowl to play with her later. "Matings between pure Fae always produce Fae, but the specific species may vary according to various conditions. In Holly and Artemis' case, their children are most likely to be pixies or elves."

"It's actually very interesting to me how a Fae family's species can change so simply over the generations." Alkaid confessed.

"We're a malleable race." Short observed with a shrug. "It's what kept us alive and allowed us to compete with all the gods running around."

"That and sheer numbers plus immortality." Pyrrha added.

"Spoken like a true daughter of war." Lus Nam Ban noted with a feline smile. "Though that's only partially true. Our greatest advantage is none of those things. Mainly it's because we're easier to believe in for the mortals than gods. It means our anchor to reality has not waxed and waned nearly as much as the gods'. While that doesn't translate into power per se, it can be with the right manipulations of mankind's greatest storytellers."

The redhead shrugged with a sheepish look on her face.

"You're gaming the system!" Alkaid gasped in shock. "You're manipulating the mortals to make them aggrandize your power."

"There's a reason why Shakespeare loved to write about us." Dìomhaireachd giggled like an imp as she fluttered over to the others. Her mother and Fowl following behind her at a sedate pace, Butler a step behind his principal like a intimidating shadow.

"Before your pretty little head explodes, Miss Potter," Fowl said joining the conversation. "Do note that this is not any different from how your gods drop the occasional piece of inspiration into the minds of mortals or how they seek promising mortals out and influence them directly."

"I suppose you're correct." Alkaid nodded in agreement, though she privately added that it seems the Fae were doing it a lot more effectively than the Olympians or most other gods seemed to have managed.

 _I guess Apollo has to up his game._ Alkaid thought before she focused on the present.

"As fascinating as this conversation surely is, how about we move it indoors?" Lá Glan said with a teasing smile. "Or would everyone rather spend the whole day out here on the lawn?"

Chuckling at his wife's joke, Lus Nam Ban nodded and led the group into the cottage.

As befitting its homely and rustic appearance, the interior of the guest house was plainly adorned with high quality but simple furnishings.

"Dio, come let's go take a bath." Lá Glan told her daughter as she literally plucked the hovering Pixie out of the air and into her arms. "You're all sweaty from exploring the woods."

"Aw," The little princess whined. "I want to stay and talk to our guests. I wanted to see what magicks demigods have."

"You can do that later." Her mother insisted as she carried her daughter further into the cottage, presumably towards a bathroom.

"Okay," Dìomhaireachd said in a resigned voice. Waving at the crowd of guests, she added. "See you later everyone."

Everyone, even Fowl's bodyguard, waved back.

"That Miss Potter, Miss Branwen, as you might have gathered was my daughter, Dìomhaireachd." Lus Nam Ban informed the demigods. "We call her Dio for short."

"Thank you for offering us your hospitality, your Majesty." Alkaid said with a bow that Pyrrha copied a moment later.

The Cat Sith just waved the thanks off with a swish of his tail, "No need for thanks, young ladies, I am merely doing what is right. Oh, and no need for such formalities either. Please call be Lus and my wife goes by Glan to her friends."

 _Oh well, it seems formalities are fleeting here. Not that it's a bad thing really._ Alkaid nodded with a pleased smile, "Of course, Lus."

"Informal as always, Lus." Fowl said as he sat down on a loveseat and Short perched on his lap. "Before meeting you I'd never have thought royalty could possibly hate the formalities of their rank as much as you do."

"Is that so Artemis?" Lus asked with a amused smile, even as he sat down on a enlarged cat bed next to a roaring fireplace that burned despite being under the strange magical water that reached chest high in the house. "I recall Titania and Oberon disliking it as well. Don't they insist on informality whenever possible."

"Yes, but they don't complain about it as much as you do. Nor do they dismiss formality as quickly either." Fowl retorted.

"You would know." The Cat Sith agreed. "Your closeness to the High Monarchs is well known."

"As is my alliance with you."

"Considering our shared goals, we would have been lumped together regardless of our alliance."

"Alliance?" Alkaid asked. If Lus' decision to offer his protection to Jane was motivated by politics then she wanted to know about it. The political arena was an ever changing thing after all and she needed a better grasp on the political motivations behind his actions to determine if his help was something she could really count on.

"We both want peace between the Fae courts." Fowl explained. "So we work together to promote that. Titania and Oberon are both unofficial members of the faction as well."

"I don't get it." Pyrrha chimed in. "Aren't they the High King and Queen? If they wanted peace can't they just _order_ the other Fae to stop fighting?"

"It is not that simple with us Fae, Miss Branwen." Lus began to explain, only to be interrupted.

"Pyrrha. Call me Pyrrha."

"Right." Lus nodded before continuing. "While all Fae swear allegiance to the High Monarchs, this is nominal at best. Our primary allegiance is to our own kingdoms and monarchs. Titania and Oberon might thus issue an order to stop a war between their vassal kingdoms, but unless they directly intervened, which they are bound by oath to not do outside of very specific circumstances, they cannot force the kingdoms involved to actually obey."

"And that's where you come in." The daughter of the Rich One stated, a shrewd look in her eyes. "You act as a neutral ground, so to speak. Don't you?"

Fowl shook his head.

"Technically that role is played by the High Monarchs. Their domains serve as the absolute neutral ground and they play the role as the objective arbitrators of disputes."

"Instead, what we and other Wyldfae domains do is show to the Fae courts that coexistence is possible. In particular, we at Wyldwood seek to demonstrate that not only can Fae of both the Summer and Winter courts live in harmony in our kingdom but that we can maintain peaceful, friendly relations with both."

"Essentially, Wyldwood is the trying to lead the other Fae courts by example."

"By being neutral?" Pyrrha asked, seeming confused by the subtler nuances of what was being discussed.

"Largely, yes." Lus agreed with a smile.

 _Neutrality? Now there's a fine thought. Maybe we could get a vacation home in Wyldwood._ Alkaid mused. Honestly, the more time she spent here the more novel the experience was turning out to be.

"And of course showing such cooperation with a foreign pantheon furthers our efforts." Lus purred happily.

"Not to mention how the connection would bolster Wyldwood's esteem." Fowl snidely remarked.

"Arte! Be nice." Short reprimanded her fiancé with a smack to his thigh.

"I won't deny it." Lus agreed with the Changeling easily. "Besides the esteem will just further help our mission."

He turned to Alkaid then and looked her directly in her eyes.

"You can rest assured, Miss Potter, that we are genuine in wishing to offer our assistance to your family. Part of our branding, as it were, is to be helpful and kind to those in need. Since we are able, we are also willing to help you in your time of need."

"Once more, thank you for your generosity." The brunette said with a grateful bow.

"You don't know how much this means to us." Pyrrha agreed as she offered her own deep bow of gratitude towards the panther shaped fairy king.

* * *

The tournament Oberon had organized was held in a large arena that had been carved into a massive granite depression in the middle of the forest city. It reminded Alkaid of the famous Odeon of Herodes Atticus, not in its ruined present day form but rather how it must have been like back in its heyday, somehow modernized and greatly expanded.

Each of the Sidhe courts had their own set of reserved seats, and Lus had been kind enough to allow Alkaid to join him and his family in their section. It was reasonably well placed and offered a good view of the arena far below.

This did not comfort her, instead the ability to view the battles to be fought below just made her uneasy. The daughter of the Rich One wouldn't lie, while she had confidence in Pyrrha… a part of her was in knots. Morgan would do something no doubt, she wasn't one to just sit back and let things be as they were.

As a result there small constant in her mind that was eating at her: what would the Goblin Queen do?

And would Pyrrha be ready for it?

Pyrrha stood below, weapon in hand, looking like she could take whatever challenge would be tossed at her. Nevertheless, Alkaid was still worried.

"My fellow Fae kings and queens," Oberon said as he flew down from the opening of the depression far above, alongside Titania and a retinue of guards. "I am glad that all of you are able to join us today on this auspicious occasion to decide whether Miss Pyrrha Branwen is worthy of receiving a boon from our people."

Murmurs had been running through the scores of Sidhe in anticipation of the upcoming event, but they all quieted down when the High King spoke.

"I know that most of us here today are waiting with bated breath for the main event, so I won't waste your time any further. Let the festivities begin."

With that he and his party flew down to their seats and took their place to enjoy the tournament.

In a flash of light and glitter dust, a troll appeared in the arena. It was a hulking humanoid twice as tall as the tallest man and sporting a set of large tusks on the edge of its face. It was wearing ornate armor and wielding a massive warhammer.

Lus winced at the sight of the creature's wargear. "That equipment-"

"It's issued only to Oberon's special forces." Short added, a worried frown on her face.

In contrast to their worries, Alkaid just breathed a sigh of relief. Pyrrha could easily handle a simple troll. Seeing how her lover and the troll had began circling one another warily, she couldn't help the small smile that spread across her face.

"This reminds me of how we first met." The brunette told those next to her.

Her new Fae friends all looked at her strangely.

Blushing lightly, she explained. "We met while fighting a troll."

"Only demigods." Lá Glan said with a amused shake of her head.

As if to prove the Merrow's point about the craziness of demigods, down in the arena Pyrrha had apparently decided that she'd had more than enough of the stalemate she was stuck in with her monstrous opponent.

"Oh, screw this!" The redhead yelled as she put away her labrys and drew her wand.

With a flick of her wrist, Pyrrha exclaimed, " _ **Expelliarmus**_!"

A jet of red light shot forth and slammed into the troll's chest. The spell sent its warhammer flying out of the troll's massive hands and it stumbled back in confusion.

Before it could recover, the daughter of war rushed forward and grabbed hold of the massive weapon just as it crashed into the ground. With a grunt and a powerful exertion of effort, she threw the oversized hammer back at its owner.

The massive hammer collided with the troll's face, the force caving it in. With a sicking squelch, the once elite guard toppled like a tower as the weight of the hammer turned its head to paste and its bulk crashed to the ground.

"At least she didn't pull a Theseus." Alkaid mused at the sight.

From a few seats to her right, Fowl hummed in contemplation.

"What is it?" Alkaid asked him, curious about what insight the genius had to offer.

"Nothing particularly interesting." Fowl replied with an accompanying shrug. "Just an observation that after such a display Oberon will ensure her next opponent will have some magic resistance."

"That's a no brainer, Arte." Short noted with an annoyed look. "After how one of his elites just got taken out thanks to a basic wizarding spell? You can bet a ton of gold he'll want to make sure his next 'champion' won't fall for the same trick. And that was a poor deflection by you. What did you really come up with?"

Alkaid blinked in surprise. She'd barely caught the hint of a possibility that Fowl's deduction was a deflection and the elf spotted it easily? Was he really that good at deception that only someone truly familiar with him could see through his facade.

Even as the daughter of Hades pondered the depths of his skill, Fowl shot a look at his fiancée and exchanged a wordless conversation with her.

When the elf seemed unmoved by whatever he was trying to tell her, he sighed in exasperation.

"I was merely observing that Oberon deliberately sent that troll in to die. It stood no chance."

"What makes you say that?" Dio asked innocently.

"It was facing a witch but had no equipment to resist magic. That's telling."

"What are you insinuating, Artemis." Lus asked, his voice stern and commanding as befit a king.

"Merely that it seems Oberon is using this tournament as more than a contest of your lover's worthiness, Miss Potter."

"Then what is it?" The pixie princess asked, her head tilted in innocent confusion.

Artemis exchanged a look with the girl's mother, who shook her head.

Shrugging, the Changeling lied. "I'm afraid I have no clue."

"Whatever else the High King is using this tournament as, Pyrrha still needs to win this." Alkaid reminded. "Does he have a favorite magic resistant creature he tends to use in such situations?"

No doubt this had to have happened before and King Oberon would surely have a few favorites to toss into battle from time to time.

"I believe he has a small book of what he enjoys to watch during combat challenges." Lus commented, and jutted his chin upward. "See? He's glossing over it right now."

Indeed, the High King was flipping through a small black book. After a moment, a smile appeared on his handsome visage as he pressed his palm against a page. Flying up into the air while flanked by a pair of guards, he looked down at the crowd of Fae nobles and held out his hands.

"Now, for the second bout of combat! Pyrrha Branwen against the fire elemental, the Salamander!" He turned to Pyrrha, his smile growing by the second. "Miss Branwen, are you ready to begin? Or would you like more of a breather?"

"Let's get this over with." The daughter of war said with a determined glint in her eyes.

 _A bit rude, Pyrrha. At least_ try _to play along with his dramatics._ Alkaid thought.

"Very well," the Fae High King said with the slightest downturn of his lips to show his displeasure at Pyrrha's disrespect. "Unleash the Salamander!"

The spectating crowd exploded into laughter at the silly joke as Oberon returned to his seat.

 _Ah, the one funny joke Uncle Poseidon is known for._ Alkaid giggled a little as well.

As the laughter died down, a pillar of flame suddenly appeared in the arena below. As it faded down to a simmering blaze, it revealed a massive lizard like creature the size of a small dragon which was enshrouded not only in the remnants of the flaming pillar but was also cloaked in intense white hot fire.

Fowl chuckled and Alkaid eyed him out of the corner of his eyes even as she kept the majority of her attention on the arena floor where Pyrrha and the salamander were eying each other warily.

"It seems Oberon is pulling out the stops." Fowl noted with amusement. "That the salamander is capable of using white flames shows that it is one of the most powerful of its kind. Add that onto the various natural dragon like qualities salamanders possess, this fight will be a tough one for Miss Branwen."

Down below, the salamander had apparently deciding that it had enough of just staring Pyrrha down, it took the initiative and breathed a stream of fire at the daughter of Ares.

Pyrrha immediately broke into a run as she tried to avoid being charbroiled by the fire elemental. Dodging the gouts of white hot fire, the audible curses escaping the redhead could be heard by all.

"What is she doing with her bracer?" Dio turned to Alkaid, her face alight with curiosity.

"Searching for something." The daughter of Hades smirked.

"What exactly could she have that might help against a salamander?" Lá Glan asked, her expression glowing with curiosity in the same way that it had for her daughter.

"Just wait and see."

"Found it!" Pyrrha cheered, as she finally found what she'd been looking for in the depths of the pocket dimension inside of Akoúo̱.

"Eat this, you overgrown gecko!" Pyrrha shouted at the salamander as she pulled out several vials from the magical storage bracer and threw them at the fiery fairy.

As the vials hit the salamander's flaming aura, they shattered and their contents splashed all over the fire elemental. Said contents took the form of a massive flood of foam. More specifically, it was alchemically created fire retardant foam that immediately smothered the fairy's flames.

In response the salamander roared and began desperately trying to scrape off the foam with its claws and by rubbing its side against the ground. It was covered in the foam though, and despite its best efforts made only limited progress at ridding itself of it.

Pyrrha, of course, took full advantage of its distraction.

Rushing forward, the daughter of Ares drew her labrys and raised it against the faltering flame elemental. With a roar, her weapon came down on its vulnerable neck. The Celestial Bronze blade sank easily into its hide, and with a yell Pyrrha lopped its head clean off before the creature could so much as feebly claw at her.

As fiery blood spilled from the stump as the body shuddered and spasmed, Pyrrha leapt away to safety. Standing back and waiting for the creature to finish its death spasms, the daughter of war took a moment to catch her breath and savoured her victory.

Alkaid noticed the frown that Fowl was sporting, and turned to him. "What's on your mind?"

"That salamander-"

"It was one from the Fiery Mountains." Short completed the sentence. "Its markings gives it away."

"Didn't the High Monarchs have a territorial dispute with the local clans in the area lately?" Dio said with a surprised gasp. "You don't mean-"

Nobody replied. There was no need for it. Everyone knew what was going on here.

"Bravo! Well done indeed, Miss Branwen." Oberon said as he clapped and once more took to the air. "That was quite the impressive fight and you have achieved a well deserved victory."

"Killing a salamander is impressive?" Lá Glan hissed, disgusted by what the High King was saying. "Considering how their kind are an endangered species, killing one is abhorrent! Especially when it was just so he can carry out a land grab."

"Glan," Lus reminded her quietly. "Be careful what you say. We _do not_ need to offend the High King."

"Miss Branwen, you look tired," Oberon continued, thankfully ignorant of the conversation between the Wyldwood monarchs. "How about a rest now?"

Pyrrha considered it for a moment, but shook her head.

"I'm fine." The daughter of war insisted. "What's my next opponent?"

The smile on Oberon's face turned into one with a cruel edge.

"Very well then." The High King said as he snapped his fingers.

Once more, in a flash of light and glitter, Pyrrha's latest opponent appeared in the arena. It was a teenage girl. She was a pretty little thing with her brunette hair tied up in a messy braid down to the small of her back. She wore a black blouse and tight matching pants. Though there was a vacant look in her eyes, as if she wasn't all there.

Alkaid felt unsettled by it, her hands gripping her skirt in worry.

Her fears were stoked even further when she heard Lus snarling in distaste.

"What's wrong?"

"The girl's name is Lydia Martin," Lá Glan informed Alkaid warily, gesturing towards the teenager who just stood there like a statue even as Pyrrha tried to taunt her. "She's a banshee."

At the mention of banshee, Alkaid felt her throat tighten. She knew of the Irish death crier. They were deadly and despite her confidence in Pyrrha's abilities, faced with such a dangerous opponent she couldn't help but worry about her chances of pulling off a victory, or to even survive this fight.

"She's a Wyldfae who has yet to be accepted into any court." The queen continued her explanation. "We extended an offer to her to join Wyldwood but she refused."

Alkaid wanted more clarification on the situation, but was preempted by Dio speaking up.

"She doesn't look like she wants to be down there." The princess said with a frown as she looked down at the banshee with a worried frown.

"King Oberon must be using this fight as a means of initiation into the Fae Courts." Lus' lips curled into a frown. "He intends to sell this as this being her chance to show her skills and impress a patron so that she'll gain admittance into their court."

"That doesn't sound too bad." Alkaid observed.

"With how fiercely your lover fights, I doubt she'll be able to give a good showing. And if she fails to join a court, she will simply be killed." Lá Glan sighed with sadness.

"Why!?"

"Would you rather let Fae run wild without any oversight?" Short asked rhetorically. "Especially a banshee like Martin."

"Please," Fowl scoffed. "It's merely the Fae nobles wanting to exert their control over their subjects. Showing that if you displease them, it might be you down there instead of a terrified girl."

"There is truth in what you say, Artemis." Lus admitted. "Though we are not _all_ so self-serving as that."

"So you're just going to kill her?"

The Fae did not answer her, which was answer enough.

Alkaid's heart sank at this but only a little. While she sympathized with the girl, her loyalty remained with Pyrrha and she knew that her lover would do what needed to be done to protect Jane. Even if that meant killing a teenage girl.

 _And if she isn't… I'll have to help her._

As if to prove her point, Pyrrha charged at the girl. Her labrys raised in a way that Alkaid noticed was poised for a knockout blow.

Seeing the oncoming attack, Martin released a scream of fright. The moment she did, her body shuddered and she teleported to the other side of the arena. However, her cry released a blast of visible sound that struck the war child and sent her flying.

Jumping to her feet, Alkaid could see how drained her lover seemed from the blow. As if it had affected her not just on a physical level, but also spiritually. Her skin looked pale and sweat dripped down her face.

"A banshee's scream can drain the life force of its target. That's how they kill. This ability makes them a very dangerous race to fight against." Lá Glan said, her face twisted in a mix of sadness but also disgust at the sight below.

In the arena, the Martin girl was looking at the drained Pyrrha with a horrified look on her face. She took a few steps towards her with her hand outstretched as if to offer her help, but stopped herself and stumbled back in sadness.

"Banshee?" Pyrrha asked the girl.

Martin just nodded.

"Right," Pyrrha said with a nod of her own. "So, um, sorry about this."

"Sorry? About what?"

Pyrrha just raised Miló to face the girl and apologized once again even as she unleashed a gout of flame at the banshee. "This. Sorry again."

Seeing the red hot blaze headed her way, Martin screamed once more and blinked away from danger.

"She should have accepted our offer to join our court." Lá Glan said with a sad shake of her head. "There is no way Martin is going to walk out of the arena with a performance that can save her life."

"You offered her a place in Wyldwood and she refused? Why?"

"Because she's stupid." Dio chimed in with a disappointed sigh.

"Dio," the girl's mother shushed her, even as she turned back to Alkaid. "She refused because she believed that she couldn't bring herself to swear allegiance to any King or Queen. To her something like that was archaic and had no place in the modern world."

"That's unfair." Fowl cut in, even as his eyes never once strayed from the arena below where Pyrrha kept attacking Martin who repeatedly teleported away. "Describing it that way makes her sound like a fool who thought her modern mundane values had any place in the mythological world and who is now paying the price for her arrogant ignorance. But in truth, things are a lot simpler than that."

"What do you mean?"

Fowl glimpsed at Dio, before just shaking his head.

Lá Glan smiled bitterly and leaned in to whisper into Alkaid's ear.

"The girl has a death wish." The Merrow queen explained. "Though I doubt she ever expected her execution to take quite such a savage form.

"What do you mean by that?" Alkaid whispered back, but the water fairy just shook her head.

In the arena, Martin and Pyrrha continued their game of cat and mouse. Seeing Martin appear on the other side of the arena once more, Pyrrha followed up with another blast of fire. This time though, the daughter of war followed up with something new. Shifting her labrys into the shape of a spear as Martin teleported once more, she twisted around and raised her arm back, her spear poised for a throw.

Taking a step forward, Pyrrha threw her spear into the distance, right where Martin appeared. Seeing this, the banshee wailed in fear once more. In response to her panicked scream, the air waves rippled out from her mouth and deflected the spear by knocking it out of the air.

Even while wincing from the wail, her already pale skin going even more pale, Pyrrha fired Miló once more. Still reeling and catching her breath from her latest scream, Martin was caught completely off guard and she was unable to defend herself as the blast from the flamethrower hit its target.

Watching the girl catch fire seemed to have struck something in Pyrrha. She looked away as Martin screamed and wailed, dropping to the ground to roll around in the dirt in the hope of putting out the flames.

After a few agonizing minutes, the girl finally managed to put out the flames. However, they had left their mark. They had left Martin's skin reddened and charred and the girl looking utterly exhausted. She didn't move to continue the fight, choosing instead to just lay there on the ground.

Pyrrha, turned towards Oberon with a disgusted look in her eyes, with a unspoken demand for him to declare the match.

"The winner of the third bout is Pyrrha Branwen!" The High King said cheerfully, completely ignoring the daughter of war's dark look. "Onto other business. My fellow kings and queens, after seeing our young, new banshee in action, would anyone be willing to take her into your court?"

Alkaid turned to the King and Queen of Wyldwood, to see what they would do. Sadly, the royal couple merely shook their heads.

"We already made our offer. And such an offer can only be made once."

In contrast to the sadness that the two Wyldfae monarchs were showing, the majority of the Sidhe were nowhere near sympathetic. In fact, they were outright hostile. The crowd was jeering at the girl, with calls for Oberon to kill her for being a waste of space.

The daughter of Ares looked shocked at the comments and turned to Oberon.

"What's going on here? I won! Why does she have to die?"

"Simple minded child, if she has no place in the Fae Courts, she's nothing but a renegade. And the only fate for a renegade Fae is death."

"That's bullshit."

Oberon shook his head at her like she was a fool.

"Oh? Is it? You think killing is immoral now? Yet you readily dealt death to your previous two opponents did you not? Both of which were proper, law abiding Fae. Why are you making an issue now? Because your previous opponents were monstrous in appearance and Martin, here, is more similar to you?"

Pyrrha looked like she was slapped.

"How discriminatory of you, but then again that's no surprise for a simple little human like you."

The daughter of war actually stumbled back in shock as the barb struck home. Unfortunately, the High King of the Fae was not done with her yet.

"Besides, you are here fighting for a _single_ boon. Are you going to change it to saving young Martin's life? Or is your mother's protection still your priority?"

A furious look flashed across Pyrrha's face. Clearly torn between her sense of right and wrong and her need to protect her mother.

Alkaid could see it, she could even understand it. Still, the choice was clear. Sure, it wasn't exactly the morally right choice, but it was the smart choice.

"Just do it." Martin rasped out in a pained voice. "I don't deserve to live. I just hope my death will be enough. That Mom, Dad, Stiles and everyone else will forgive me."

Pyrrha's hands curled into shaking fists. She looked so conflicted that it broke Alkaid's heart.

 _Let me help you here, Py._ Alkaid wanted to say to her lover even as she stood and summoned the shadows to her right hand. With a look of grim determination on her face, she sent the gathered darkness screaming down the arena as a shadowbolt to finish off the badly wounded banshee.

Pyrrha immediately turned to Alkaid and shot her a betrayed look, but the daughter of Hades just sent her a determined look and mouthed Jane's name back at her. The redhead was shaken at the reminder and looked away, her face once more set in a conflicted mask.

Ignoring the byplay between the lovers, the High King clapped in a grandiose fashion, only to have most of the Sidhe quickly following suit. Titania was one of the few exceptions. The stunning High Queen instead wore a beautiful frown as she looked down at the young woman's dead body lying on the arena floor.

"Congratulations, Miss Potter, on having the fortitude to do what needs to be done."

Alkaid just offered the Fae king a frosty nod, before quickly turning to offer her lover an apologetic look.

Pyrrha still looked like she wasn't sure what they'd done was right, but she gave her own accepting nod back.

 _We'll need to talk about this when we get back._ Alkaid noted as Pyrrha turned to face Oberon.

"Can she at least be given to her family?" Pyrrha asked the High King, her voice steady but her eyes ablaze with anger at the callous fairy.

Oberon just chuckled and replied, "What family, Miss Branwen? The girl has none left. She's killed them all."

"What!? The girl was meek as a fly, how could she ha-"

"She was a banshee." Oberon reminded the redhead. "And the first thing she did once she came into her powers was use her screams to kill everyone around her. She screamed so long and so hard that she massacred her whole hometown."

 _There's got to be more to the story than he's telling us._ Alkaid thought. Pyrrha was right earlier, Martin didn't look like the type to do something like that.

It seemed Alkaid wasn't the only one who was new to this bit of information. Next to her, Dio gasped in shock and turned to her parents for clarification.

"It was an accident." Lus told his daughter. "The girl awakened to her power in a stressful situation and lost control of it."

Dio nodded in understanding, even as sadness clouded her features. Her mother pulled her into her side and began rubbing her back comfortingly.

Oblivious to all this, Pyrrha continued her conversation with Oberon. "Can I have the remains then? I'm sure it was all just some kind of mistake or accident. She at least deserves a proper burial."

 _Looks like Pyrrha has guessed correctly._

"Does that excuse the thousands she killed before their time?" Oberon asked sharply. "You'd accord a mass murderer the respect of a proper burial?"

"Yes," the daughter of war replied tightly, as she clearly struggled to not lash out.

Alkaid could understand what bothered her lover so much. Pyrrha was trained to be a hero, a slayer of monsters, not a slaughter of mortal lives. To her, even serial killers deserved basic human decency so long as they were mortals. She was trained in a way that instilled in her the idea that mortals lives were to be protected.

 _To someone like her, this whole thing must be deeply unsettling. It's made her question the right and wrong of saving mortal lives in a way that her training never prepared her for._ Alkaid thought as her heart ached for Pyrrha being forced into this position. Reevaluating one's morality was never a pleasant experience.

At the same time though, she couldn't help but feel the point Oberon had made earlier resonate with her. The training demigods received _had_ made them prejudiced against everything that looked inhuman.

 _That's something I'm going to need to talk to Chiron about rectifying._

Glancing at Oberon, she could see the quirk of his lip. The fairy was having fun with this.

 _He's just like Minos. He enjoys the suffering of the damned that he passes judgement over._

And this was exactly that, him delivering judgement. Alkaid had grown up seeing judgement given in the afterlife so it was obvious to her. While that Martin girl didn't deserve this particular death, she _was_ guilty of murder. Alkaid's sense of justice told her that she needed to pay her toll.

 _Plus, she could have actually lived if she just decided to live a life of servitude. I'm sure that would have served well as a punishment too. During the course of her service, she could have even learned not to make such a mistake again, but no...Oberon, he saw this as the best solution to that sorry girl. He exploited her predicament to get some sick entertainment for himself._

How could some of the most beautiful creatures in the world be the most wicked?

* * *

 **Omake: Fickle Life**

Lydia Martin was your typical middle American high schooler. She went to school most of the week, did her schoolwork when she got home, hung out with her friends in her spare time, and when time and her parents permitted went out on dates with her boyfriend, Mieczyslaw "Stiles" Stilinski.

It was on the way to that last core activity of her daily life when her mother suddenly stepped out of the kitchen to stop her.

"Lydia, we need to talk." Her mum said in the strangely melodic voice that along with her short stature and exotic slightly pointy ears had made her stand out so much in town.

"What is it, Mom? I'm going to the movies with Stiles." As she finished, Lydia coughed a little. Her throat had been sore since last night and she'd been feeling a little under the weather.

"Lydia, do you have a sore throat?" Her mom asked with a frown.

"Yeah," Lydia admitted sheepishly. "But it's nothing major. I'm not canceling a date just because I'm feeling a little tired."

"Tired?" The older woman asked, her face paling a little. "Lydia, we _really_ need to talk."

Lydia was about to reply but a car horn from outside the house reminded her that she was keeping Stiles waiting.

"Sure mom. When I get back?" The teenager said as she pushed past her mother and walked out the front door.

The older woman chased after her. "Lydia! Come back here. We need to talk now!"

Lydia ignored her and quickly jumped into her boyfriend's car.

"Drive!" She insisted to her startled boyfriend.

Obligingly putting pedal to the metal, Stiles sped away from the Martin residence.

"So, was it really okay to ignore your mom like that?" Stiles asked worriedly as they cruised down the street.

"It's fine." Lydia waved the concern away dismissively. "She probably just wants to talk about something stupid like how my GPA dropped by 0.1 this semester. Like a difference like that matters when I'm scoring straight As."

Stiles shot her a skeptical look, but otherwise wisely said nothing as they drove in companionable silence to the cinema.

All the while, an increasingly unbearable itch was growing in the back of her throat.

* * *

"Sorry again about parking so far away." Stiles said for what must have been the hundredth time.

Lydia just giggled and offered him a loving smile. "No worries, Stiles. It's not your fault that there weren't any parking spaces closer to the theater. Besides, I know a shortcut."

She pointed to a dark back alley that she knew would cut the walk to the cinema in half.

"You sure it's a good idea to go down a dark alley in this part of town?" Stiles asked warily.

"Sure," Lydia insisted. "I use this shortcut all the time."

"But there's a new gang that's moved into the area."

"Oh, don't be such a worrywart Stiles." Lydia said as she grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the alley.

Stiles didn't seem mollified but he didn't resist either as they walked into the alley and moved steadily away from the parking lot.

His fears proved warranted however when suddenly a trio of men stepped out of the shadows. Two of them cut off the way ahead, while a third blocked the way back to their car. They were surrounded.

The sight of them immediately made the blood in Lydia's veins freeze and strangely made the itch in her throat spike in intensity. It made her want to open her mouth and scream, but she couldn't risk it. Not when it might set these criminals off.

While she was busy thinking, Stiles had pushed her behind him and was addressing the thugs.

"We don't want any trouble. We'll just hand over whatever you want and leave."

"Whatever we want?" The man behind them said lecherously. "Even if it's that babe over there?"

Lydia froze. Was the man implying what she thought he was?

Stiles, the brave man that he was, turned to shield her from the pervert.

"No." He insisted. "We'll give you our money, but that's it."

"Really now?" Mister Perv said with a teasing grin even as he pulled a gun from his jacket and pointed it at the two of them.

The sight of the pistol filled Lydia's vision. She lost sight of everything else as it became her whole world.

 _I'm going to die here! They're going to rape and kill me. I'm going to die. Die! dIe! D-_

" **...iE! DIE!** "

Lydia never even noticed as her panicked thoughts escaped her lips in a shrill scream that echoed down the dark, narrow alley.

She did notice however as the gunman suddenly collapsed and as she felt a jolt of energy fill her body with strength. She felt like she could suddenly run a mile a minute, lift a truck with her bare hands and who knows what else. The rush faded quickly though and reality reasserted itself.

She turned to Stiles, to check if he was alright.

He wasn't. He, like the gunman, had collapsed to the ground and was lying slumped down against the side of a building.

He looked asleep. Like the gunman and the other thugs which she caught in the corner of her eye. But they weren't sleeping. Stiles wasn't sleeping. They were dead. Stiles was _dead_!

She didn't know how she knew but she just did. They were dead, all of them, and she had been the one to kill them!

" **No! NO!** " Lydia's words joined the wordless cry of despair that she hadn't realized until now she was _still_ screaming.

She hadn't stopped screaming since she'd seen the gun. Not once.

And she couldn't stop. She just couldn't stop!

 _I need to get out of here. Get some help._ Lydia realized, even as she struggled to think over the sound of her own screams. _Why can't I stop!?_

Ignoring that oddity for now in favor of the far more important necessity of getting help, she rushed out of the alley and back towards Stiles' car. The reminder of him made her breath hitch, though that somehow didn't affect her scream in the slightest, but she pushed the pain away for later. She had to focus on what needed to be done in the present.

When they'd left there were plenty of people in the area, surely someone there would be willing to help her.

However, as she rushed out of the alley the sight that greeted her horrified her. The whole place was filled with bodies.

Her body shook at what she was seeing. At seeing the bodies, the _dead_ bodies. The dozens of men, women and children just laying there on the ground. Dead. Every last one of them was dead.

Lydia didn't know how long she stood there looking on in transfixed horror. It could have been a minute or an eternity, she didn't know. She just stood there staring and, of course, screaming her increasingly inhuman scream.

Finally the flickering lights of the parking lot somehow caught her attention and she snapped her head away from the terrible sight. The moment she did, her legs moved as if on autopilot as she fled the scene.

" **Oh my god! I killed them! I killed** _ **all**_ **of them!"** Lydia's words joined the despairing chorus of her heart wrenching scream.

Lydia was smart, she could figure it out. It was because of her voice, her-her suddenly cursed voice! Every time someone heard it, they died. And she'd feel them die and what followed was some sickening yet euphoric rush that filled her petite body.

She didn't know where she going at first, but as she ran along increasingly familiar streets. She knew she was heading home.

It wasn't a comfort. Not when she was seeing more and more people she recognized dead on the street as she passed. Killed by her scream. She tried to stop herself, to turn around and run out of town. But she couldn't. Her body was on autopilot.

As her feet pounded against the pavement, her lungs burning from her wails, Lydia tried to silence herself. Stifle her screams but they just wouldn't cease. For every body she could see fall, each one just laying there on the ground, the screams just… continued.

Her eyes screwed shut as she ran, trying, oh she tried her hardest not see them. Sadly, it was as if she could sense them. Feel each life stolen from those around her.

Why were these flames being snuffed out? What was this happening? Lydia had no answers.

Turning down her street, she could see it. Her house. Finally, finally she made it home.

Part of her wanted to run away. She knew the threat she now posed to everyone here. But the part of her that was in control of her body, didn't, couldn't understand that. It was driven purely by instinct and it knew, better than anything else, that home was where she could find solace, safety from this massacre!

Shakily, sobbing, she grabbed at the door but her instinct driven self had forgotten the need for a key. Not that it seemed to need it, as with a frustrated tug she ripped the door right out of its hinges and tossed it out onto the street.

The noise caught the attention of her parents. They were clutching each other just inside, apparently struggling to get out of the house.

 _To come find me_ , Lydia realized. _This… Mom wanted to warn me about this!_

"L-Lydia, stop. You need to stop." Her mum said, her breath labored. Her eyes looked like they were bleeding! " _Stop_."

Lydia tried to speak, to say she was _trying_. Yet all that came out was a scream as her mother collapsed before her.

Dead.

It echoed in her mind, it raged. She had just killed her mother, she had _killed_ her own mother!

Tears streamed down her cheeks as she turned to her father. He was on his knees, struggling to even look in her direction.

The final word on his lips was, "Banshee."

With that, he fell on his face, his death empowering her.

Collapsing to her knees, sobs began to mix their way into her still resounding scream. She slid to the floor, curling up in on herself as she shook and whimpered. Rocking back and forth in a desperate attempt to calm herself, to keep the thin thread of sanity she still had.

Only one thought crossed Lydia's mind, in an endless repetitive loop.

 _I wish I were dead._

All the while, her deadly scream continued to be heard throughout the now dead town of Beacon Hills.

* * *

 **Done and done!**

 **Thanks to the awesome team of Nameless and Axios as always!**

 **Man, talk about ending on a depressing note, both in the story and the omake. Still, if we didn't explain what happened, there would probably be a lot of misunderstandings about what happened to Lydia. And yes, we took some stuff from Teen Wolf. We just, changed it a little.**

 **Nameless: I think it's fair to say we changed a lot. We basically only kept the names.**

 **Hopefully the fights made up for the depressing-ness of the chapter itself. They were mostly straight forward but hey, Pyrrha is a good fighter. She knows how to handle a monster or two.**

 **Nameless: Personally I think dark fiction once in a while is fun.**

 **School days are over people, this is the real world. And the real world is a cruel, cruel mistress.**

 **Nameless: Too true. That said, the main concern I want to address is what Oberon is doing with this tournament. I don't know if you can tell but he's using it as what amounts to his firing squad and tossing in people he wants dead as Pyrrha's opponents.**

 **Beyond that, he's also using it to make a point to the demigods about the nature of Fae. This is especially so when he called Pyrrha out on her very different reactions when faced with killing the troll and salamander on one hand and Martin on the other. To the Fae, such distinctions as "how human a being is" are irrelevant and they find mortals prejudiced for thinking otherwise. Essentially, this is a warning to Pyrrha and Alkaid, that all Fae, even their new allies, are a lot more different from them then they think. And they need to be aware of this in their dealings.**

 **So basically he's trying to give them kindly advice… while also doing something emotionally scarring and using them as his executioners. Yeah, typical Fae behavior. You've got to wonder whether that's the limit to what he's doing here or is there more? Well, you'll need to read the next chapter to find out.**

 **E4E: You know what to do! Smash that review button and tell us what you love! No flames and peace off my peeps!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson or Harry Potter.**

 **Consul of the Underworld: Grinding Phase**

 **Chapter Fourteen: Twisted Fae Cruelty**

 **Beta: ShadowofAxios**

* * *

"Well, now that that's been settled, let's move onto the next bout shall we?" Oberon asked in a cheerful voice, as if the unpleasantness of Martin's death had never happened. Judging from the cheers of the Sidhe crowd, they agreed with him.

 _Are they all that heartless or are they just doing that to not offend him or curry his favor?_

"Her remains." Pyrrha demanded.

"Yes, yes." Oberon said as with a snap of his fingers Martin's body disappeared and a urn appeared in Alkaid's lap. "Miss Potter can take care of it while you fight your next match."

The daughter of Hades quickly grabbed it before it slid off and broke. Putting it carefully down on the ground next to her, she turned to face Pyrrha down in the arena and nodded in acknowledgement that she'd received Martin's remains.

"So who's my next opponent? Another little kid you want me to kill for you?" Pyrrha sneered.

Oberon just smirked a bloodthirsty smile in return.

"No, just the main event for today's festivities. Don't die too quickly, Miss Branwen."

With that, the High King of the Fae returned to his seat.

"Still didn't tell me who-"

"Impatient little girl aren't you?" A frustratingly familiar voice said as no less than the Goblin Queen appeared in the arena in a shower of glitter. Unlike her appearance yesterday at the High Monarchs' court, Morgan wasn't dressed in an overly elaborate ball gown. No, she'd come dressed for the occasion in a leather catsuit with a pair of pistols holstered on a belt at her waist.

Silent curses slipped from under Pyrrha's breath. "Of course you'd show up. Man, my luck is shit."

"Of course it is, child. You made the mistake of tying your life to the accursed Potter girl." Morgan shot back. "Do you know how many powerful forces in the world are determined to see her suffer for the humiliations she made them endure."

 _Alright, that there is an exaggeration! I do not have that many enemies. That are alive at least._ Alkaid thought dryly.

"I have an idea." Pyrrha shot back.

"Do you now?" Morgan asked sounding genuinely surprised. "Well, you're more the fool then. Oh well, I guess I'll be doing the world a favor by trimming its population of idiots today."

Hefting her labrys in both hands, Pyrrha shot the fairy a defiant look. "You can try."

"Oh, I'll do more than try." The overconfident changeling said with a mocking smile. "But I'm feeling generous. I'm going to give you the first shot. Come and show me what you've got."

Bristling, Pyrrha roared as she charged.

She barely made it ten feet when she abruptly stumbled and fell to the ground. She struggled to get back to her feet but for some reason failed to do so. Each attempt resulting in her comically collapsing into an increasingly disorientated heap.

Naturally, the Sidhe laughed at the display. Alkaid however just felt her heart constrict in fear at what had happened.

"Is that really the best you can do, daughter of Ares?" The Goblin Queen asked in faux surprise. "All I did was take away a little of your balance and you're unable to even move properly? How pathetic."

Grunting, Pyrrha struggled to even rest on her knees. Clearly frustrated, she snapped at her opponent, "If we're fightin', you should at least fight. Let's see if _you_ can at least put one up."

Morgan actually laughed at that, a beautiful but cruel laugh.

"Strong words from a girl who just helped brutally execute a girl for no crime but being unable to control her powers. Did you let the banshee girl put up a proper fight? No, you didn't, you hypocrite."

Pyrrha flinched at the truth in the barb.

 _Don't let her shake you Pyrrha. If your resolve is shaken, then you've lost._

Alkaid really wished telepathy was allowed in the arena, because she dearly wished to encourage her lover. She needed it, after the last match and especially now when facing someone who was determined to push her buttons.

"Don't worry though, all of this will be over soon."

"What-"

"Hush. Soon, you won't have to pretend anymore. You can stop acting like the person you've never actually wanted to be. I can help you, you know. But only if you let me." Morgan cooed as she bent over the redhead's prone form, a malicious smile on her face.

Pyrrha looked at the changeling like she'd grown a second head, but there was something else in her look too. Something that had Alkaid deeply worried. There was fear and more importantly _longing_ in Pyrrha's eyes.

It seemed to escape the notice of the Sidhe though as they laughed at the pitiful punch Pyrrha threw at Morgan's face.

"Now now, no need to pretend, child." The woman said soothingly as she gently pushed the redhead's fist to the side. "I am the Queen of the Lost Season. I _know_ loss. _All_ loss. Including yours, even the ones you refuse to admit."

Glaring at her in utter contempt and defiance, Pyrrha spat in her direction. But it missed terribly.

Alkaid had enough and jumped to her feet ready to intervene. Unfortunately, Fowl's massive bodyguard moved faster than she thought possible for a man his size and restrained her.

"Release me. Now." Alkaid said in a bone chilling tone.

"Calm down." Fowl said without any hint of urgency. "You should have known from the start that any fight between your lover and the Goblin Queen would come down to this battle of wills. I know you researched her powers last night, knowing full well that such a fight would be highly likely."

"That's different."

"Yes, seeing the actual fight is a lot more stressful than just hypothesizing about it." Fowl agreed. "That said, it doesn't change the fact that if you intervene before the match is called, it'll mean an automatic forfeit for Pyrrha. Is that what you want, Alkaid?"

The daughter of Hades growled in frustration but relaxed. She couldn't interfere and jeopardize this chance to get Jane the protection she needed. But if Pyrrha came in real danger… Then consequences be damned, she'd step in without hesitation.

In the arena below, Morgan just looked at Pyrrha with amusement as she circled around her. "You don't need to act so tough. It's not who you are after all."

"Lady, you don't fucking know me. So shut your trap and fight!"

The fae gave no intention of doing so.

"What was it you first lost? Oh right!" Morgan said in mock astonishment. "The first thing you gave up to be a warrior were your dolls. All pretty, all clean, all girly. You loved them, such simple times, no?"

As Butler finally released her and she took her seat, Alkaid frowned.

 _I never knew Pyrrha had dolls._

"It seems Williams really _hates_ you." Fowl observed with a frown. "She rarely ever uses the power of the Lost Season. Not like this. For her to do so, well, she must be highly motivated to ensure you lose."

Alkaid just grunted in agreement.

"What's the power of the Lost Season?" Dio asked innocently.

"It's a power that allows Williams to stir the sense of loss in people. If used skillfully, this power can break even the greatest warriors." Lus explained patiently to his daughter.

It was frustrating, ever so frustrating to not be able to just blast away the damned Goblin Queen. Yet, Alkaid could only stand there and do nothing. If she tried to do anything they'd simply lose.

Especially when Pyrrha was visibly reeling from the vindictive woman's words.

"How?" The redhead said in a shocked whisper.

Ignoring her victim, Williams continued her torture. "The day your mother finally told you who your father was, you walked into your playroom and looking at all the dolls you so loved… You threw them one by one into the bin. All while crying. Did Barbie, Blue Belle and all the rest really deserve that? Didn't they bring you years of fun as a little girl? Why did you discard them just like yesterday's rubbish all because your father was Ares? Why Pyrrha why?"

As she spoke, ghostly figures formed around the Goblin Queen that slowly coalesced into dolls. From the way Pyrrha flinched back from them, Alkaid could guess that they were in the image of the childhood dolls that Pyrrha discarded.

As one the spectral dolls kept asking Pyrrha a single painful, heart wrenching question, "Why?"

"Because children of Ares didn't play with dolls?" Morgan added, her voice accusing yet somehow still sweet and inviting. "Because it wasn't what warriors did? But the dolls wasn't the end of it was it? Next came all your pretty clothes, makeup and every little girly thing you owned."

Again spectres of the things Pyrrha had tossed aside as she embraced her legacy as a daughter of Ares appeared around the Goblin Queen and asked their single plaintive question.

"You gave them all up! Everything that had previously made you who you were! Why? To please an absentee and abrasive father?"

"Stop it." Pyrrha said, the lack of heat in her voice was startling. Her fists shook as she tried her best to glare at the fae, but… it was lacking.

"It wasn't just things though, was it?" The Queen of Loss pressed on, unfazed by the redhead's plea. "You'd never had many friends, but the revelation of your parentage took those you did have away too. No playgrounds were safe for you after you knew you were a demigod. Not that it mattered. Not when no children could understand you. Especially how you'd changed so much overnight. So all your friends drifted away from you. Even Emily."

Pyrrha gasped as a single ghost of a little girl appeared out of nowhere to look at Pyrrha with vacant, dead eyes. She did not speak, just stared at the redhead in silent accusation.

In the stands, Alkaid gasped. That wasn't some illusionary spectre. That was a genuine spirit of the dead.

"Did you ever even bother to find out whatever happened to Emily? Your childhood best friend who you used to share everything with? A girl that at one time was so close to you that you regarded her as your sister?"

"Stop it. Now. Just stop talking."

"Did you know that she died in a car crash the year you went to Hogwarts?" The Goblin Queen added with a accusing smile on her face. "Or at least that's what the mortals think happened. You want to know what really happened? Hmm?"

"...Yes."

"In truth, your lingering scent stuck to her like a cloud. It faded over time, but it was still more than strong enough to lure in a monster. She was just out on a drive with her family one day, minding her own business, when out of nowhere a cyclops decided it wanted some demigod flesh. It smashed the car open with its club and then plucked her injured, squirming body out of the wreckage."

Pyrrha' s reddish brown eyes grew misty. It was taking all she had to look at the tiny specter that was once her friend and not break into tears.

Rage blossomed inside Alkaid. She hated this, she hated watching the dead be pranced around like a show especially so because it was being used to torment her lover.

"It didn't just eat her there you know. It roasted her alive." At this the ghost of Emily transformed into a gruesome thing. There was a spit running through her body from her mouth and out her behind, and her whole body was cooked. "By then he'd realized he'd made a mistake, but he wasn't about to waste fresh meat so he ate her anyways."

Pyrrha broke down into tears. "Emmy, I'm sorry! Please, please don't hate me. I didn't mean for it to happen! I did everything I could to stay away and keep you safe! I'm sorry!"

The spirit in turn just looked down at her with dispassion.

"Your sister in all but blood and you left her to a gruesome death. A death you never even bothered to find out about." The Goblin Queen said judgingly. "And you call yourself a hero?"

"Are all demigod's stories so sad?" Dio asked in a horrified whisper.

"Sadly, most of them are." Alkaid confessed with a painful weight in the pit of her stomach. She knew her story thus far was luckier than other half-bloods.

The little pixie hugged her comfortingly, but Alkaid felt little relief. Not when Morgan seemed hellbent on continuing to torture her girlfriend.

"I _am_ a hero." Pyrrha insisted with what must have been the last of her strength.

"Perhaps," The damnable woman allowed. "But is a hero of Olympus really something that's worth being? Isn't it just a mold you've been forced into? Aren't you just another mindless grunt for Olympus, who lives and dies on the whims of your Fates?"

The daughter of Ares made to reply, but the fae queen was relentless.

"Will you die a glorious death? Or will your passing be due to something trivial like a car accident? Or perhaps something embarrassing like being killed by a hobo monster? Will your death be glorious or humiliating? Most of all, would your daddy, who you're trying so hard to please, even care?"

"Stop," Pyrrha begged, tears rolling down her face uncontrollably. "Please just stop."

The goblin queen's smile was twisted in sick pleasure.

"I can stop, my dear. Though, you need to do something for me first~"

"Anything! Just, just please stop…"

"Forfeit and all this pain goes away, you poor, poor child."

Shaking like a leaf in the wind, Pyrrha replied with a hollow look in her eyes. "I forfeit. Just make it stop."

"Of course, dear girl." The changeling said with a sickening sweet smile as she looked towards Oberon for confirmation of her victory.

"This fight goes to Queen Williams." The High King declared with a frown on his face as he floated into the air and he eyed the Goblin Queen's spectres with distaste.

Said woman gave him a bow in thanks even as she dismissed her summons and jumped back just in time to avoid Alkaid as the demigoddess shadow traveled into the arena.

As the brunette gently lifted her paramour, she leveled a pointed glare at the Queen of Loss which would have had lesser beings quaking in fear.

"All's fair in love and war, Potter." The Goblin Queen said in response, while sporting a malicious smirk.

"I know."

With that, Alkaid shadow travelled back to her seat in the stands.

As she gently laid Pyrrha down on her seat, the daughter of Hades tried her best to calm Pyrrha down.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." The redhead whimpered, her miserable look fanning Alkaid's rage at Morgan.

"Let me." Lá Glan said as she leaned over and cast a number of spells over the defeated child of war.

"Is she-"

"She's fine." The Merrow said reassuringly, as she cast a sleeping spell on the exhausted demigoddess. "She'll be fine after some rest."

As this was going on, it seemed Morgan was getting some measure of comeuppance.

"Now then," Oberon said suddenly, just as the Goblin Queen was about to vacate the arena. "Are you planning to forfeit Goblin Queen?"

"What are you talking about, Your Majesty?" The changeling asked in confusion.

"Why your fight with Miss Branwen's second of course." The High King said matter of factly, as if this was how things had been intended to play out the whole time. Which it certainly was not. The concept of seconds in this tournament was news to Alkaid. Judging by the shocked whispers of the spectating crowd, she wasn't the only one caught by surprise.

"Who? Potter?"

"You're in luck there, Your Majesty." Fowl said with an apologetic nod in Alkaid's direction and stood. "You won't have to contend with facing an experienced sorceress with an axe to grind, but merely my humble self."

Morgan hissed like a viper at her fellow changeling, "You never declared yourself her second!"

The High King smirked at the declaration.

"I don't believe there is any stipulation that seconds need declare their status."

The hushed whispers of the crowd silenced at his statement. It was clear this was a ploy of the High King, possibly the real reason behind this whole tournament. Alkaid was sure she was missing some context here, but her instincts were telling her that for some reason Oberon had set this all up to create a chance for Fowl to fight in this tournament.

 _Possibly so he could fight Morgan specifically._ Alkaid noted as her mind scrambled to make sense of the situation. Despite her anger at Pyrrha's condition, her curiosity was piqued and she was immensely interested in figuring out just what was going on.

Whatever it was, it seemed to infuriate the Goblin Queen. As her features twisted in rage.

Seeing Alkaid's confusion, Dìo smiled at her.

"Do not worry, Lady Potter. This is all part of the plan." The princess informed her.

 _And of course I wasn't informed of it. I had thought I would be filled in if needed._ Alkaid sourly huffed. _Still, seeing how stiff Morgan is at the moment, perhaps this is a better alternative._

"Would the combatants please both enter the arena?" Oberon said with a faux frustrated expression and gesturing at Fowl to hurry up.

With a shower of glitter, the genius teleported into the ring.

"Apologies, Your Majesty." Fowl said, offering the High King a bow.

Turning to his opponent, the Irishman gave her a bow as well though this one was mocking.

"May we have a fair fight, Your Majesty?"

"Of course. May the best _Fae_ win." The Goblin Queen replied with a mocking smile on her face.

"Indeed," Oberon agreed. "Begin!"

Neither combatant moved. Instead they just stood there staring at each other and sizing their opponent up. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Fowl smirked.

"Would you like to continue the mind games you used earlier, Your Majesty?" Fowl said tauntingly. "Or are you perhaps too scared of using them against someone who is sly to your tricks?"

Morgan laughed at the suggestion. "You should know better than to goad me, Fowl. I'm not like the other Sidhe, I understand the concept of pride goeth before the fall. As if I would risk mind games with one of the most twisted minds in the world."

"Oh really? Then what exactly do you intend to do instead?"

The woman's reply was to draw her guns and fire off a pair of shots at Fowl.

He was prepared for her though and the bullets deflected harmlessly over a screen of hard light which shimmered at the impact of the bullets.

She was undeterred however and with a smirk vanished from sight.

Fowl tensed as a roar had him turn around just in time to see a massive grizzly bear appear behind him. Before he could react, the beast swiped one of its large paws at him. The strike went right through the young Changeling, however instead of an explosion of blood and gore all that occured was his appearance flickering.

It was nothing but an illusion.

Without any fanfare, Fowl appeared out of nowhere on the opposite side of the arena from where he'd been standing earlier.

"You aren't the only illusionist here, Your Majesty." Fowl said with a mock bow towards the queen.

Seeing this, Alkaid turned to Lus with a question. "Who is the better illusionist of the two?"

"Well, Williams is leagues better than Artemis. In fact, she is his better in nearly every aspect as a magician and a fighter." The King commented, a smile still on his face.

"I'm sensing a "but" coming on."

He chuckled. "Yes, but Artemis' wits have pulled him through much worse than an irate queen."

Lá Glan giggled at the display below. "I must say, Artemis has gotten better. To have tricked Williams into locking down her illusions and mind games, all based on playing to her expectations that she wouldn't be able to outwit him. A masterful stroke as always."

"Don't let him hear you say that." Short said with a roll of her eyes. "I know I wouldn't hear the end of it. Still, if Queen Williams played to her strengths, Artemis would be dead a few times over."

Even as Alkaid and her royal allies spoke, there was a major development in the fight. Apparently deciding to switch to a more direct approach, Morgan shifted from the ursine form she had taken into the shape of a gigantic serpent that immediately lunged at Fowl with its mouth open wide to swallow him whole.

Looking completely unflustered, the Irishman pulled out a grenade from his pocket and tossed it towards the monstrous snake's gaping maw.

The shapeshifter reacted to this new threat immediately and her form fluidly transformed into that of a large rock golem that walked through the grenade's violent detonation.

Still seeming calm, Fowl fished a scroll out of his pocket and pointed it at the rapidly approaching golem. With a burst of magic, a jet of highly pressurised water shot out of the scroll at the golem.

Morgan raised her arms to defend herself against the unexpected attack. However, despite the earthen construct's high defense, the water proved too much and the the jet began to cut deeply into the golem's body.

Lus stroked his chin, "It seems Artemis is full of gadgets today."

Just before the water jet could finish cutting through the golem, Morgan abandoned that form and with a burst of immense magical power transformed into an ethereal form. She looked like she normally did, that is to say she returned to her standard humanoid form but was oddly transparent and literally glowing with power.

In this state, the water just shot through her dealing no damage whatsoever but that was hardly the end to it.

"Shit." Fowl cursed as he threw the scroll aside and burst out into a run.

Even then he barely made it as in a literally explosive teleportation, Morgan's ethereal form translocated to where he had been standing moments before in a burst of raw power that left behind a massive crater and unleashed a shockwave of magical energy.

Caught up in the extreme edges of the powerful attack, Fowl was sent flying by the force of what Morgan had unleashed.

Even sitting in the stands, Alkaid paled at the awesome demonstration of raw power that her nemesis had just shown herself capable of.

Thankfully, it seemed that the Fae queen was unable to maintain her empowered ethereal form for long and soon reverted to her physical state. She swayed on her feet for a few minutes before collapsing to her knees.

"Done with your trump card?" Fowl said as he shakily pushed himself back to his feet.

Morgan shot him a dark look. It lacked her usual bite though, largely because she was looking quite worse for wear. She was sweating profusely and her arms were covered in deep cuts that were weeping blood, presumably wounds that she had sustained from Fowl's pressure jet while in the guise of a golem.

"Look at you, Your Majesty. Will you happily surrender to save some face?"

Morgan's face twisted into a vicious sneer.

"Silence boy, I will not have you get in my way!"

With a furious yell, the Changeling Queen shifted her form once more. In a blink of an eye, a large mass of muscles and scales stood before Fowl, with multiple heads filled with rows of razor teeth that glowered down at him with a plethora of yellow reptilian eyes.

In her last ditch effort, Morgan had taken the form of a Hydra.

"You're a bitch, you know that?" Fowl cursed as he once more broke into a run as the monster took in a deep breath and unleashed torrents of flame at him. He barely escaped the front edge of the intense flames the hydra breathed at him. The firestorm followed after him unrelentingly though and with a scream of pain, he was consumed.

As the flames cleared, a charred corpse was all that remained.

"No." Alkaid grit her teeth at the loss of their Second.

Morgan didn't seem to agree though, much to the daughter of Hades' confusion, as the hydra barely gave the body a glance before scanning the arena as if searching for something.

In a shimmer, Fowl appeared upon the Hydra's back and placed a sticky note of all things down on it.

"What is tha-"

Alkaid's curiosity was satisfied as the post it exploded just as Fowl leapt off the monster's back, the blast charring and tearing a good chunk of the beast's back clean off.

Lá Glan winced at the sight while the young princess Dio cheered excitedly at the big boom.

Lus held his head in his hand, mirth in his words. "An explosive rune on a sticky note, really? Only Artemis would come up with such a bizarre combination."

Short snorted at that. "Artie's always thought outside the box. Or in this case, a box from Staples."

As the smoke cleared, it showed Morgan laying on the ground. She was in bad shape. She was covered in blood from a vast number of wounds. In contrast, a winded Fowl was leaning against a far wall, cradling a twisted arm that he probably sustained from a poor landing from his leap off the hydra's back.

Short giggled at the sight and turned to Butler. "Looks like he needs some remedial fall training."

Butler released an exasperated sigh, but nodded nonetheless.

"I declare this bout is Artemis Fowl's victory!" Oberon loudly proclaimed as small polite claps filled the stands.

Not everyone was satisfied though, as Morgan's husband, the Goblin King, teleported into the arena. He appeared next to his wife's mangled body and holding his hand over her wounds, he crushed a glass orb that he'd conjured from thin air. This released a stream of glitter and lights that proceeded to cause her wounds to rapidly heal. This done, he turned to glare at Fowl with bloody murder in his eyes.

"I challenge Artemis Fowl to a duel!" The incensed husband demanded, his body glowing with raw power.

"Now, now, Jareth," Oberon said placatingly as he flew in between the incensed Goblin King and Fowl. "The tournament is over. If you want a duel you'll need to find another occasion for it."

The lesser fae king growled in frustration but nodded in resignation.

"Though this victory was twofold!" Oberon smiled brilliantly as he turned to Fowl. "With your defeat of a Sidhe in combat, Artemis, you have finally met the full criteria. You have now ascended to full Fae status. Congratulations."

As the High King's words finished, Fowl was surrounded by a cocoon of magical power. It lasted for only a few seconds, but as the cocoon faded it left him fundamentally changed. He was largely unchanged physically though he had gained a pair of elvish ears, but magically he'd gained an aura of inhumanity.

"Joy."

* * *

After the tournament, Alkaid returned with the Wyldwood royalty and Fowl's retinue to the former's cabin.

After making sure Pyrrha was being taken care of under Lá Glan's care, Alkaid immediately spun to glare at Fowl.

"You used us. I don't enjoy being some pawn, Mr. Fowl."

"I won't deny that I did exploit your situation to my benefit." Fowl agreed airily. "Nevertheless, I did help you get what you wanted didn't I? Something that our initial agreement did not even cover. That this assistance developed in a direction that benefited myself is just icing on top of the cake."

Alkaid's glare lessened, but she did not relent just yet. How typical of a fae, even if he was once human. He was blending in _quite_ nicely it seemed.

"I agree with Artemis on this, Miss Potter." Lus chimed in. "Things turned out positively for everyone involved and that's what's important. Though, Artemis old friend, may I know whether you planned this from the get go? I knew you informed us that you would step in as Miss Branwen's second should the need arise, but did you plan this all from the start?"

"It was not difficult to predict how things would play out in Titania's court when we appeared. There was no doubt that Williams would attempt to interfere and everything else was simple conjecture from that point onwards. Her husband would support Williams, likely suggesting you run his labyrinth. The idea of a challenge would appeal to Oberon even as he would chafe at the idea of letting it be run by a lesser fae. As such, he would proceed to suggest that the challenge take the form of something else."

"And the idea of a tournament would appeal to his sense of poetic justice." Lus said with a nod. "He would find it an appropriate challenge for a daughter of Ares to face such a martial challenge."

"That much I've followed." Alkaid said with a frown. She might not appreciate being used by Fowl for his own ends but she could easily follow how he had set things up so far. There was however still one point she wanted more clarification upon. "But what was the purpose of becoming Pyrrha's second?"

"That was the whole point for Artemis' involvement in all this, I presume." Lus cut in. "You wanted the chance to face a Sidhe did you not? Knowing that Williams would almost certainly chose at some point to join the fighting?"

Artemis shrugged.

"It didn't exactly require a genius to figure out that would happen." Short said with a snort. "Williams is so obsessed at getting back at Miss Potter that she simply can't miss out on the chance to pick a fight with her or in this case her lover."

"Yes, yes, that's not exactly a surprise." Alkaid said dismissively. "What I would like to know is why it's so important to you to fight a Sidhe?"

Fowl fidgeted slightly, clearly uneasy at explaining himself.

"It was the last requirement for Artemis to formally ascend into a proper Fae." Lus explained. "Before now he was a changeling, yes, but they aren't accorded full status. They are essentially second-class citizens. However, if one meets all the necessary criteria, they can be ascended into being a Ascended Changeling and formally become equivalent to a full blooded Fae."

"Ascended Changeling? I've heard Morgan be called that before."

"That's because she like myself was once human." Fowl explained. "She and the Goblin King fell in love and proceeded to get married a hundred odd years ago. She proceeded to spend the next three decades going through the trails, like I have, to ascend."

"You've beat her record on that front, Arte." Short noted with a sigh. "Something you're never going to let anyone forget are you?"

Fowl's smirk was answer enough.

"So far all this sounds like all of you thought it inevitable that Pyrrha would lose at some point." Alkaid noted with an angry frown. "After all, your whole plan hinged on Fowl getting a chance to fight in her stead."

"We have Oberon to thank for that," Lus said with resigned annoyance. "He would never have let Pyrrha win on her own merit. It would make us Fae look bad, and that's something he would not be able to stomach."

"Yup," Short agreed. "Which is why he'd have kept throwing opponents at her if necessary until she exhausted herself and lost."

"Plus he hates losing and as host of the tournament, if Pyrrha won it'd be tantamount to his loss." Fowl added his two cents. "So there's no way he'd have let that happen."

"But he let _you_ win."

"Because he figured out my plans from the get go." Fowl told her with a shrug. "The whole concept of a second is an obscure and rarely used relic, but did you notice him saying anything when I made my declaration? He knew my game and was more than happy to play along. It made it seem like he'd pulled a fast one on the courts."

"You didn't inform him of your plans beforehand?" Lus asked Fowl with genuine surprise.

"No," Fowl replied. "The High Monarchs might have wanted to allow my ascension for some time but it's no secret that the rest of the Sidhe were very against it. Filling them in on the plan beforehand would open the door to certain political ramifications down the line that are best avoided."

"How considerate of you," Alkaid noted dryly.

Fowl winced at the barb at his hypocrisy. He might have been considerate to the High Monarchs' political situation but he had completely forgotten about doing so in reference to Alkaid and Pyrrha.

"I apologize for the duplicity Miss Potter." Fowl offered with sincerity. "In hindsight, there was no real need for it beyond my own paranoia."

Alkaid still wasn't happy about being made a pawn in someone else's games but she was level headed enough to acknowledge that everything had worked out well for all involved.

"Apology accepted." The daughter of Hades conceded grudgingly.

The cabin descended into a somewhat tense but not overly hostile silence as everyone waited on news about Pyrrha's condition.

Alkaid's worry made her perception of time slow down to a crawl and what must have just been ten minutes at most seemed to drag into an eternity before Lá Glan entered the room, a patched up Pyrrha with her and a cheerful Dio trailing behind her. Before the daughter of Hades could give her lover a quick relieved peck on the lips, the redhead pulled her to the side.

The redhead uncharacteristically immediately pulled her into a hug.

"Pyrrha?" Alkaid asked, her voice full of concern. "Are you alright?"

"No," the daughter of Ares admitted. "But I will be. I just need some time."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No," Pyrrha said with a breathy sigh. "Maybe later, but I need to process it first. Like I said, just give me a while."

"Take as much time as you need." Alkaid reassured her.

Pyrrha nodded and changed the subject.

"So yeah, I just heard a wonderful tale on how we were nothing but a set up for Fowl there to get a promotion." The daughter of Ares said with a mostly successful attempt at her usual tone.

Grimly nodding, Alkaid said. "Yes, he just admitted as such. Though remember, we've got what we came for. That's all that matters and that you're safe also."

Her pale hand stroked Pyrrha's cheek. Relief in her emerald eyes that at least her lover was fine. Still, she was worried about what she went through mentally. Hopefully they could talk more later once they got home.

"Yeah, it's pretty much the only reason I'm not beating his smarmy face in."

With a soft kiss on the lips, Alkaid nodded.

"Now, let's go say goodbye and go home. I'm sure Jane and Mina are worried about us."

Lacing her arms around Alkaid, the daughter of war nodded.

"Yeah, I just want to head home after this."

* * *

The welcome that the demigods received as they returned from their trip to the Fae Courts was warm indeed. The moment they had stepped foot into their California home, they had been all but ambushed by Jane and Mina. The older redhead had embraced the two tightly with Mina quickly also jumping onto the hug wagon.

That was days ago and since then they had focused on getting some rather needed rest, especially for Pyrrha. This included a great deal of talking about the hidden truths that the daughter of Ares' fight with the Queen of Loss had unearthed and a trip to her childhood friend Emily's grave.

Now though, the family was finally ready to travel to the Branwen estate in Wales to oversee the installation of the finishing touches of the security system that Wyldwood was offering Jane.

Pyrrha was, of course, not anywhere near one hundred percent yet. But she was feeling good enough to do this and was determined to be join the trip. Alkaid and Jane would have preferred she took more time to recover, but both knew how stubborn the daughter of war was and had acquiesced.

As the family portkeyed onto the Branwen property, they were greeted by Lus Nam Ban and Fowl who were supervising the project.

Their presence wasn't what was most intriguing though, that honor went to the clan of gnomes -conical hats, little tunics, boots and all- that were in the last stages of moving into the garden.

"They're cute!" Mina noted excitedly, before turning hopeful eyes to her parents. "Can I play with them?"

"Maybe later." Pyrrha replied distractedly.

"Gnomes?" Jane asked looking at the diminutive earth fairies that were supposed to be her new security system skeptically.

"I assure you Miss Branwen that the Rockwells are an elite clan from the Wyldwood that I personally selected for this task." Lus offered the older redhead with all the pride of a monarch speaking of his subjects. "They have my absolute confidence."

"While Gnomes aren't known for their fighting prowess," Fowl added. "They _are_ a sign to any would be attackers that this area and its inhabitants are under the protection of the Fae."

"Beyond the Rockwells," Lus continued. "We have also set up a fairy circle in the depths of the garden that connects to Wyldwood. It can serve as an escape route and/or a means to rapidly send reinforcements should the need arise."

"Sounds good." Jane said with an impressed nod. "So in exchange for all this, you want me to put you in contact with some arms dealers? That seems kinda cheap for all this."

"You underestimate how much of a help that would be to us, Miss Branwen." Lus assured her. "While we have some magitech weapons, they are generally expensive and reserved for our elite troops so access to much more economical mundane weapons is greatly appreciated."

"I'll be able to add a few layers of my own wards correct?" Alkaid asked Lus curiously.

"Of course, though do let the Rockwells know the set up. It'll help in the long run."

"Do keep me in the loop as well," Fowl said. "I've installed some of the most advanced security systems available, with a few magitech extras of my own creation and I'd like to avoid any clashes if possible."

Alkaid nodded.

"Beyond that I've also spoken to my associates in the local criminal underworld and they'll discreetly keep an eye out for Jane from now onwards as well."

"Thank you. And once this is all done, your payment will be delivered to your home." Alkaid informed him. "The Hermes Express will make sure of that."

"It is a pleasure doing business with you." Fowl said as he offered her his hand.

Begrudgingly, Alkaid accepted his hand and with gritted teeth, she shook it.

"It appears that we are done here for today." Alkaid said as she released Fowl's hand and fought the urge to wipe it against her clothes.

"One more thing before you go, Miss Potter." Lus said as she made to go collect her family who had wandered over to chat with the gnomes. "A warning actually."

"Let me guess, Morgan is even more infuriated with me than ever before."

"On the nose with that. Be wary if you visit any Fae lands or wherever those two have influence. At this stage, Sarah would gleefully escalate things to the point of outright attacking you."

"Good luck with that." Pyrrha snorted as she walked over. "Next time, we'll be ready."

 _I certainly hope so, because I have a feeling that we'll need to be._

* * *

Alabaster groaned in pain as Luke wheeled his wheelchair into the suite on the Princess Andromeda where their mutual Lord's slowly reconstituting body resided. As they passed the threshold into the well-appointed room, the son of Hecate couldn't suppress the shiver that ran down his spine at the oppressive aura that emanated from the golden casket that dominated the room.

An aura that writhed with displeasure.

He really wished Luke would just throw him overboard. It would have been better than facing the felled Titan king. At least all he had to worry about there was Poseidon's wrath, which usually meant a shark or three. With the lingering effects of the blessing of Pontus that had saved him after his fall from Eris' palace, he had a sixty percent chance of surviving that.

Facing the Crooked One's ire? He'd be lucky to have a twenty percent chance.

The ominous silence in the room stretched on and Alabaster's throat tightened in fear as he awaited the inevitable rebuke for his failure and its accompanying punishment.

Finally though the tension got to him and he couldn't hold it in any longer.

In a voice that was barely above a whisper and which fit his current mood quite well, he spoke. "I apologize for my failure, my Lord."

The Titan king didn't even respond to his words as unbridled pain assaulted every nerve in the son of Hecate's body. He screamed in utter agony. It was as if burning needles dipped in acid were being poked into his brain.

He was on the verge of passing out, but was deprived the blessed release by whatever foul magics his lord was using to punish him. Instead, he was forced to remain conscious and in agony as the Crooked One and Luke conversed.

"Is this really necessary?" Luke questioned gesturing to Alabaster's twitching pained form, seemingly ignoring his pained cries.

" _ **You question whether failure should be punished? You forget yourself, boy."**_

"No, simply whether debaliting one of our best warriors over being outmatched by a superior foe is good for morale."

" _ **As far as I am concerned, he ended up as nothing but**_ **fodder** _ **. He couldn't even defeat someone in a magical duel."**_ The sarcophagus quivered as it released a scoff. _**"So much for being a son of magic."**_

Luke frowned and seemingly decided to change tactics. "Well, he was moderately successful wasn't he? While he might not have permanently neutralized Potter as a threat, at least he's proven that where direct conflict with the troublesome daughter of Hades is too costly we can still rely on distraction to stop her from interfering with our plans."

The Titan king seemed to take this into consideration and the pain eased up a little. It was still intense and Alabaster was still hovering on the verge of unconsciousness from the pain alone, but he would take any relief offered.

Unaware, or possibly just uncaring, that his words had convinced their lord somewhat Luke continued speaking without pause.

"Though I still don't see why we need to go to such lengths to do so. Even if she's a child of the Big Three, she's still only one person and not even a child of the Great Prophecy at that."

" _ **You underestimate her power, boy. You are an insect to her. Only our strongest allies would be enough defeat her. In addition, with her new position as Olympus' diplomat she may be able to call in aid from**_ **other** _ **pantheons. Zeus would never do so, but the girl isn't hindered by such hubris."**_

"Would anyone heed her call?"

" _ **I will not take such a risk! With her power alone, she could derail our plans. The more distracted she is, the better our chances grow."**_

"It will be as you command, My Lord."

" _ **Of course it will, boy."**_ The dismembered Titan said with a scoff. _**"Now get that failure out of here and get back to your duties. We have a war to fight."**_

Offering Kronos' casket a respectful bow, Luke began pushing Alabaster out of the room.

As they fully exited the room, his master's spell finally lifted and the son of Hecate finally lost consciousness.

* * *

 **Omake: Visiting Graves**

The sun peaked out through the cloudy sky as Pyrrha walked through the rows of gravestones in a rural Welsh graveyard. Sadness filtered through the daughter of Ares' heart and poured out of her every pore. As much as she loved her girlfriend who she knew as a daughter of Hades would appreciate the scene around her, such a dreary atmosphere was just plain depressing to her.

Despite that she had come here alone. Alkaid had offered to come with her, as a means of support, but Pyrrha felt she _needed_ to do this alone.

Eventually she reached the grave of her childhood friend Emily. A friend that she had failed and doomed to a horrible death.

She swallowed heavily as she reached the headstone and her eyes lingered on the date of birth and date of death, "1987-1998". It was too short. Far too short. Eleven years was nowhere enough for a wonderful girl like Emily. These thoughts had her hands gripping the bundled flowers in her arms all the tighter as she let out a shaky breath.

"Hi Emmy, it's me, Pyrrha." The redhead said softly. She knew this wasn't how death worked. Talking to a gravestone didn't help much but pleading at her friends' grave was the best way to get closure she could think of. Apparently Emily wasn't in the Underworld, which meant she was probably in some other afterlife and beyond Alkaid's ability to summon. And honestly she couldn't face her again, even if she had been.

With tears welling up in her eyes, she laid the flowers before the grave.

"I just wanted to say I'm sorry. It means nothin', I know, but I… I didn't want this. You didn't _deserve_ this. No one does, but life… it sucks, right?" Pyrrha hiccuped as she wiped her eyes. "Look, I just wanted to promise ya something alright? As long as I can still _breathe_ I'm going to make sure nothin' like this happens again as long as I can stop it. I don't, no one should have to die like you did."

Her fingers ran over the name, feeling each letter as her hand passed over it.

"I'm just so freaking sorry, Emmy. I hope you can forgive me someday."

* * *

Hidden in the shadows some distance away, Alkaid stood beside the spirit of the dead girl, Emily. In leaden silence, they watched as Pyrrha offered the grave a last, lingering caress before she stood up and left. It was clear from the sad atmosphere that still clung to her that the trip was not as freeing as the daughter of Ares had hoped.

The little girl turned to look up at Alkaid, tugging harshly at her sleeve.

Looking down, the girl issued a demand to Alkaid. "You will do something for me."

"Yes?" The demigoddess could see the anger and resentment swirling in the young girl's ghostly eyes.

"You'll tell that dummy I can't forgive her. I'll never do that. Not completely at least. But! I'll cut her a little slack since it wasn't _entirely_ her fault. You got it?"

The daughter of Hades actually had to fight to not take a step back from the raw anger that the spirit suddenly began emanating. It was surprisingly intense, even for someone with plenty of experience with angry spirits. Not so much about the aura itself but by the fact that a little girl would be the source of it. It was deeply unsettling, it was to be expected but still uncomfortable to see. The ground around the spirit was literally becoming scorched by the high temperatures that the spirit's rage was producing.

Nodding in agreement, Alkaid asked the angered spirit, "Would you rather tell her yourself?"

"No! I don't want to see her ever again, alright?! You just make sure she keeps her promise, the big stupid head. _**Or else!**_ " The spirit said, her eyes turning blood red and her whole body bursting into flames as the spit that the cyclops had run through her materialized in her body. It gave her a terrifying appearance, not that Alkaid hadn't seen worse. It was just objectively scary.

 _Wonderful, another temper tantrum spirit._ Alkaid sighed. "I'll be sure to do so."

"Good!" And with that, Emily spun around to face a trio of pitch black crows that sat on a low branch in a nearby tree. "Hello, Lady Morrigan. Can I leave now?"

The three cawed as one, and immediately Emily's spirit transformed into a swirling cloud of mist and disappeared.

The crows turned to Alkaid, their plumage puffing up in agitation, much like Rhip would do when she didn't give him enough attention.

" _ **You were disrespectful and dismissive to that spirit."**_ The goddess said in an ominous voice. _**"Treat one of the dead under my care like that once more daughter of Hades and you'll not enjoy my retribution."**_

"Of course, my apologies." Alkaid said, flustering in embrassassment.

With one last dark look, the Morrigan took to the air and quickly flew off into the distance.

Alkaid waited for the goddess' three avian avatars to completely disappear before she allowed herself the freedom to sigh in relief. She didn't look forward to having to fix this now. She leaned back against the tree and shot a sad look towards Pyrrha who was still slowly snaking her way out of the graveyard.

 _I really hope there is a way to fix this._ Alkaid thought sadly. _But I'm really worried that there might not be._

With one last sad sigh, the daughter of Hades shadow traveled home to hopefully do _something_ to help the situation.

* * *

 **Done and done!**

 **Thanks to the team of Nameless and Axios as always.**

 **Well, that was a cruel fight that Pyrrha had to deal with. And I'm just going to say this now, all demigods, no matter how much love they got for their parents, resent them to a degree. I mean, come on. You are literally born with a death sentence on you unless you're strong enough and even then, you don't get much of a chance to die of old age. It struck Pyrrha and that's why she faltered in the fight along with the revelation of her childhood friend's death because of her. Dark, yes, depressing, yep, needed? Oh sure, we don't get much talk about mortal associates of demigods and what happens to them. This is a clue at the possibilities.**

 **Nameless: I don't necessarily agree about the resentment bit. Because it's not true that demigods are born with a death sentence. That's a myth they tell themselves. The fact that so** _ **many**_ **of the Riordanverse's most famous people were demigods and adult demigods at that proves this. Essentially, like with many things in life the "death sentence" is something people, in this case demigods or their mortal parents, created by the reckless decisions. For example, not going to the safety of Camp Half-Blood or Jupiter as soon as possible. Do the gods deserve some blame for putting them into a position where such difficult choices need to be made? Certainly, but that doesn't absolve the demigods and their mortal parents for their own parts in making their own lives miserable. It is with this in mind that I chose to show that Pyrrha had** _ **consciously chosen**_ **to give up everything that defined who she was and become a stereotypical daughter of Ares. She was as complicit in the loss, heck she was more so arguably than anyone else. And now she's got slapped in the face with the full weight of the consequences of her choice.**

 **So, with the depressing stuff out of the way, Jane's place just got pimped out with security. Good for her. Hopefully no one will be stupid enough to attack her again.**

 **Nameless: If they do they'll have our Kirito expy, yes that's who Lus is based on, in their face for harming someone under his protection. Considering how OP Kirito is... Yeah, it's not going to end well for them. XD**

 **You know what to do! Smash that review button and tell us what you love! No flames and peace out my peeps!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson or Harry Potter.**

 **Consul of the Underworld: Grinding Phase**

 **Chapter Fifteen: Justice Stabs**

 **Beta: ShadowofAxios**

* * *

It was late evening in the Potter-Branwen household and the family was settling down to a night of video games, namely some Mario Party.

 _Gotta love the classics._ Alkaid thought to herself as she took a seat on the couch next to Pyrrha, her controller firmly in hand.

While the daughter of the house, Mina, was thoroughly excited about playing and was bouncing in her seat on a cushion in front of the television as the game loaded. Her parents were a little distracted.

"So how is it? A lot better than locking yourself away in your room, right?" Pyrrha asked as she leisurely scrolled through the game's character selection. She was skipping between Bowser and Wario, the brunette noticed with amusement.

 _Anyone but the Bizarro reject._

Alkaid readily nodded, a small smile on her face. "Sharing my hobby with family makes it so much more fun."

"Exactly," Pyrrha said with a relieved smile. "It's fine to have fun alone once in a while but-"

"I get it." The sorceress reassured her. "You don't need to keep reminding me. I won't _ever_ cut family out of my life because of a game ever again."

"Only over a game?" The daughter of Ares asked teasingly.

Alkaid fought the urge to smack her lover with her controller. Why was she being so prickly about this? She'd already promised already didn't she?

Apparently, her thoughts must have shown on her face because Pyrrha quickly backtracked.

"Just kidding! Really! Sorry."

Alkaid nodded, accepting the apology but added sulkily. "You don't have to doubt me about it. You should know I'd never leave you guys."

The redhead leaned over and pecked her lips. Ah, that sweet cherry taste. "All I needed to hear. Plus, I promise you'll still have your solo time. Just, you know, in moderation."

"Is that making you feel better?"

"'Kaidy, it's doing loads for me. Plus, family time is the best time for me." The daughter of war smirked at her lover.

"Mum! Mama! Pick already!" Mina pouted at them as she pointed damningly at her already locked in selection. "I wanna stomp you as Princess Peach!"

"Ha," Alkaid told her, a devious look on her face. "I'd love to see you try, Mina my dear."

"I will! Watch!"

"Gods," Pyrrha palmed her face.

* * *

Los Angeles, the famed City of Angels and home of Hollywood. It was to many around the world, the Mecca of pop culture. However, the Potter-Branwens were finding out just how ignorant those fools really were. The reality of the second-most populous city in the United States was one of widespread urban decay and rampant crime, at least in the poorer neighbourhoods. Something that was, sadly, not uncommon in most cities as infrastructure and economic development failed to keep pace with rapid urbanisation.

Of course, Alkaid had known this and witnessed it for years while growing up in the city. Which was something she fully intended to exploit. After all, a young family popping up in the middle of the upper class sections of town would attract quite a bit of unwanted attention, even with the Mist. There being quite a few monsters living in those areas. After all, monsters could use the Mist too and regularly did so to confound mortals into renting them fancy apartments or houses for free. Even monsters, most of them at least, would rather live the high life than slum it in the hood.

So they'd Shadow Traveled instead to one of the so-called 'bad neighbourhoods' where the monsters were more scarce, in a bid to avoid a fight that would ruin their little family outing.

The budding family were now walking the streets, enjoying the waning summer sun and heading into the more touristy/higher-class areas of town. Alkaid was dressed for success as always looking ever fashionable in a charcoal skirt suit and black high heels.

Her darling Pyrrha wasn't dressed in her usual punkish attire though and had instead chosen to dress a touch more fashionably herself. Most likely one of her latest attempts to be more feminine. She'd put on a tie collar bowknot plain bell sleeve blouse in a rose red color and a pair of tight jeans that emphasized every feminine curve of her legs and hips.

It was a change but not one that Alkaid minded, it was an appealing view. And by some of the stares they were getting, others agreed.

Though Alkaid admitted that might have been because Mina was darting around ahead of them in an attempt, it seemed, to examine every nook and cranny of everything they walked pass. Seeing a sliver blur race all over the place was certainly attention grabbing. Which in Alkaid's totally biased opinion, was entirely appropriate. Her little murderous goddess looked absolutely adorable in her checkered sundress and Mary Janes and deserved the attention.

"Anything we missed at Camp?" Alkaid asked her lover after a fond look at their daughter's antics. "You spoke to Chiron last night, right?"

The two had been so busy securing protection for Jane and dealing with all the aftermath _that_ brought about that they'd gotten a bit behind on news from Camp. Hence, Pyrrha had taken the initiative last night to check in with the Activities Director on the latest developments.

"Yeah, apparently the Fleece did more than heal Zeus' kid's tree. Popped the girl right out of the ground, like a carrot." Pyrrha remarked, snorting a bit at her wording.

"Well, at least she's not a prisoner of the floral kingdom." Alkaid joked, though from the way Pyrrha rolled her eyes it had fallen flat.

 _No one appreciates my nerdy jokes._ Alkaid thought with a pout. Truly her wit was underappreciated. At least her Father loved them.

"I'm more curious if she can put up a good fight," The fighter commented with a broad grin that held a savage edge to it.

"Must you be so obsessed with peoples' fighting prowess?" Alkaid teased openly, enjoying a giggle at the light pink that she'd managed to bring to Pyrrha's cheeks.

"I just like a good tussle is all."

"Oh, I know. Sometimes even for hours." Alkaid nodded with a sly look. Ah, teasing her lover was always a treat for her.

Instead of getting those lovely red cheeks like Alkaid hoped, Pyrrha continued their banter, "And you're just glad Chiron took the girl under his wing. Allowing you to keep a distance like you wanted."

Alkaid shrugged her shoulders, "It's the smart thing to do. I doubt the girl would appreciate my presence. I remember when Father sent all those monsters after her. Watched it too."

"Yeesh, I heard it was a nasty sight." Pyrrha frowned, looking at her with worry.

The sorceress brushed the concern aside with a dismissive wave, "Not really. From what I remember the girl had a death wish. Safety was just literally feet away and instead of making a run for it, she instead chose to charge the monsters."

"You mean she was literally suicidal?" Pyrrha asked, shocked by this revelation.

"I couldn't say for sure, but it certainly looked that way."

"Damn," Pyrrha said, her voice full of sympathy. "I hope she gets better."

"With how harshly my Father hunted her, she might just have wished for it to end. Of course, even if she did, Father would have tormented her just to spite my dear Uncle." The brunette huffed, not that her Uncle didn't deserve it for trying to murder her own siblings. "Hopefully living in a safe environment will do her some good."

"It can't make it worse."

"I know from my own experiences at Camp that you're wrong so pardon me if I disagree. It is after all why we'll be staying home for a while."

"No complaints from me." Pyrrha said, surprising the daughter of Hades. "Hey! No need to be so shocked. I know my siblings, okay? They would be jerks about everything I went through lately. I don't need that. Not right now."

Alkaid nodded, a little flabbergasted that Pyrrha would admit that. It was well known that the children of Ares tended to disdain their emotional wellbeing in general, instead believing that strength of body and will would allow them to overcome everything. A philosophy that caused them to be more than a little hurtful to others in pain. As such, having a daughter of war recognize this and realise that she couldn't stand being exposed to it at the moment was nigh unthinkable. Yet here it was, happening right in front of her eyes.

 _As expected of Pyrrha, she never ceases to making my heart flutter._ Alkaid smiled sweetly at her girlfriend and pecked her cheek in appreciation and love.

"What was that for?"

"Just wanted to show you how much I love you is all." Alkaid replied, entirely serious.

The redhead blushed brilliantly and turned away from the daughter of Hades. With nowhere else to look besides a bog standard city street, her eyes naturally wandered over to their daughter and whatever she saw made her frown.

"Mina, whatcha mumbling about?" Pyrrha asked the little goddess.

"Huh? Oh! It's nothing Mama." The silver haired girl deflected, idly kicking her right leg back and forth.

"Were you playing pretend?" Alkaid asked her little girl curiously.

"Uh, yeah! Pretend… tehee?"

"Really? Then why don't you tell Mama and Mum what you were playing and we can join in too." Pyrrha suggested, a look of suspicion in her eyes. Her lips formed into a tight frown.

Alkaid didn't know what the redhead was worried about but thought her suggestion was a great idea. Playing games with Mina sounded like a great way for them to bond.

Shuffling her feet, the goddess looked the picture of nervousness.

"M-maybe I don't wanna?" She blurted out, panic flashing across her yellowish-green eyes.

 _Okay, I think I see what's got Pyrrha concerned._

The redhead looked ready to protest, but Alkaid put a restraining hand on her arm.

"That's okay then, sweetie." The sorceress said with a loving smile. "It was only a suggestion."

"Really?" Mina asked, sounding hopeful. Her worried face ebbing away and replaced by a look of relief.

"Of course," Alkaid replied, squeezing Pyrrha's arm to hold her back from saying anything.

"Thanks Mum!" The silver haired murderer cheered and gave the brunette a quick hug before darting off once more to continue her little game.

"'Kaidy, what-" Pyrrha began to whisper, but Alkaid shushed her as she cast a simple spell to enhance their hearing.

"Let's play spy a little," Alkaid whispered as the spell took hold. "Better to figure out what she's up to and confront her with it rather than try to force it out of her."

The redhead nodded in agreement as they both began to listen in on their daughter's mumblings.

"Oh! He's nice and fat!" The little goddess said with a demented giggle. "It would be great fun to carve him up and force him to eat his own flesh until he chokes on it!"

Both women gaped at that and followed the side eye that Mina had given to a plump Asian man that was walking on the other side of the street.

"That lady is so~ pretty!" Mina said, this time apparently referring to beautiful woman walking past them in the opposite direction. "I wonder if she's as pretty inside? Is she nice and warm? I haven't slept in a body in a while."

Pyrrha turned to Alkaid, horrified. For her part, Alkaid wasn't entirely surprised. Their little girl _was_ the goddess of serial killers after all. Instead, her mind was focused on figuring out what had set her off.

Mina's eyes darted to another would-be victim as her fingers tightened around imaginary knives as madness danced in her golden orbs.

"That little old lady looks so frail, a strong breeze can knock her over!" Mina said even as she exchanged pleasant smiles with the tiny, elderly African American woman down the street. "Her bones must be just weak enough to make them easy to play with. Maybe I can turn her into some kind of modern art sculpture for our backyard? Mum will like it I think."

Having heard enough, Alkaid called out to her daughter. Her tone sharp and commanding. "Mina."

"Yes, Mum?" The little girl asked, spinning around on the spot and seeming completely innocent.

"I would not like a new sculpture in our backyard." The brunette said, causing a startled look to spread across Mina's face. "Nor do I want to help hide a body today. What's brought this on?"

Next to her Alkaid, could see out of the corner of her eye that Pyrrha was startled by her mild reaction.

 _Did she forget again that this kinda stuff is par for the course for the House of Hades?_ Alkaid thought for a moment before dismissing it for later. She had a goddess to reprimand.

Tears pooled in her large eyes as a hiccup past the small goddess' lips.

"I, I-I know that! It's why I didn't say anything. I didn't want you make you m-mad." Mina sniffled, her palming rubbing her tearing eyes. "I keep getting urges to kill things, Mum. I try not to, really! It's _hard_ though. I keep killing all the annoying cats and dogs in the neighborhood but its not the same!"

"That explains why we don't have any strays, I guess." Pyrrha winced at the confession.

"Can I go maim a hobo or something? Oh, oh! Maybe a whore? Haven't done that in a while. Please? I-I _need_ to sink my knives into someone." Mina started to pant now, her eyes glassy, "Their cries for help, their screams of pain. I miss them, Mum, Mama."

"Alright, kiddo." Pyrrha said with a frown. Having, it seemed, set aside her revulsion at the idea of murdering innocents, she knelt in front of their daughter. "Why didn't you talk to us about this?"

Mina looked away, looking ashamed, "I didn't want to upset you. If, if I did… you might not want me anymore. I don't want to leave you two."

Those adorable eyes of hers started to well up once again but Pyrrha, ever the champion of a mother, brushed them aside with her thumbs.

"Hey, hey, no tears okay? We'd never do that, ya know? We love you too much, kiddo."

The daughter of Ares planted an reassuring kiss to her forehead which made Mina smile.

"Of course Mina," Alkaid rested a gentle hand on her daughter's shoulder. With a soft squeeze, she said, "It's only natural you'd want to kill someone. It's a _part_ of you. You never need to hide who you are from us, sweetie."

"But it's not natural!" Mina whined.

"It is for you," the daughter of Hades insisted. "You're special and it's perfectly natural for you."

"Gotta agree with your Mum on this one, kiddo." Pyrrha said with an affectionate hair ruffle which earned her a whine.

Looking around the street, Alkaid noted a gang tag on a nearby wall. Something that inspired her with a idea that brought a wicked smile to her face.

"Mina dear, how would you like to do some… community service?"

"Eh?" Mina cocked her head to the side with an owlish blink of confusion. "Um, if that's what Mum wants. Alrighty!"

* * *

That night, Alkaid and Pyrrha found themselves looking down at a warehouse in the bad part of L.A. while riding on a magic circle. They were relaxing and enjoying the beautiful view of the city's skyline at night when Rhip flew up from the building below.

Alkaid immediately stretched out her arm for her familiar to land, though he quickly hopped up her limb and onto his favourite perch on her shoulder instead.

"You called him back?" Pyrrha asked tiredly. "So she's almost done then?"

"Pretty much," Alkaid agreed. "There's only a few left and she's decided to get theatrical now. Watch."

A hard light screen appeared in front of the couple and displayed the image of the warehouse's fog filled interior. There were a bunch of terrified gangbangers huddling together in what could charitably pass for a defensive circle.

"So magical HD, huh?"

"I prefer Kill-O-Vision." Alkaid quipped.

Rhip cawed in agreement with its mistress, earning itself a stroke down its spine just like it liked it.

Their conversation was put on hold as a petite figure literally rose out of the fog right in the middle of the gang members' circle and lashed out in a dervish of bloody blades and reduced half of their number into chunks of meat in a matter of seconds.

The survivors wisely fled, though most didn't get far. Wounded by Mina's unexpected attack, they were easily picked off as she threw her blades into their exposed backs.

"Not seeing any theatrics yet." Pyrrha said with a frown.

Alkaid didn't know if the frown was because she was upset at seeing the death of mortals or not, but the brunette sincerely hoped she'd gotten over that hangup. These thugs were one and all murderous scum, the daughter of Hades had checked. Heck, she'd even gone to the trouble of luring away the more innocent of the bunch, the less violent drug peddlers, pimps and the like, so that only the most guilty remained for Mina to cull. If Pyrrha was still upset after all that, then things in the future would be difficult.

"Just wait for it." The brunette said, letting none of her worries show.

On screen, the precious few survivors were running through an increasingly foggy maze of cobblestone streets and getting themselves hopelessly lost even as Mina stalked them. All of them. All at once.

"Is that-"

"A recreation of Victorian London? Yes, it is." Alkaid nodded. "Mina seems to like to recreate the feel of her heyday as Jack the Ripper."

"How?" Pyrrha said, before facepalming. "Right. Goddess. Altering reality is child's play, literally, for her."

Alkaid just chuckled.

They watched as Mina toyed with the last few gangbangers. Deliberately missing with her throwing knives and occasionally appearing out of the fog to scare them even more. Only ever dealing the finishing blow when they were at the very depths of despair. A number of them had ended up wetting themselves, while one fella had even tried to shoot himself as an escape only to lose a hand to Mina's knives before he could pull the trigger and ended up getting skinned alive for his gall to try the easy way out.

"Theatrical, huh?" Pyrrha said with an amused shake of her head. "You're totally right about that. Our little girl gets that from you, you know?"

"Why thank you. I do have to knock a few points here and there, but she'll get a solid A minus."

Their conversation was interrupted when the door to the warehouse slammed noisily open and a heavily tattooed man ran out like his life depended on it. Which it did. Not that his sprint saved him. He barely made it ten feet before a knife embedded itself in the back of his head and he fell over dead.

Skipping out of the warehouse as the body collapsed, the goddess of serial killers plucked her knife out of the head with ease. Her body was covered in blood, yet she beamed like an angel up at the couple. She waved cheerfully and announced, "Mummies! I killed all the stupid, bad mortals! Can we get ice cream?"

"I can see that," Pyrrha said with a sigh, as Alkaid mentally ordered their platform to descend. "Isn't all that blood uncomfortable? Don't you want a bath first?"

"I like the smell!"

"Well, the ice cream man won't." Pyrrha insisted with a shake of her head. "So bath time."

"Aw~! Okay. I want the undead duckies!"

"Don't whine, sweetie." Alkaid said, patting the girl on her head. "You've had your playtime, so you need to clean up. And yes, you'll get the duckies, Mum promises."

"Yay!" Mina cheered.

"So was it fun killing those lowlifes?"

"It totally was, Mama!" The silver haired girl replied enthusiastically. "Maybe next time we can go kill bad guys together?"

"Maybe," Pyrrha said with a noncommittal shrug. "Not sure if the gods will be okay with heroes killing mortals. Even pieces of trash like this lot."

"It should be fine," Alkaid assured her, Mina nodding along. "It's not like they cared a whit back in the old days. I doubt they care now."

"Well, if it's okay with them, then sure."

"Yay!" Mina cheered again, jumping towards Pyrrha to hug her but stopping herself as she realized she was covered in blood.

Pyrrha giggled at her hesitance and finished pulling her into the hug.

"But the blood?"

"Don't worry about it, squirt." The redhead assured their daughter. "The elves will clean it out."

"Indeed they will," Alkaid agreed as she joined in the hug.

Even as the family enjoyed their shared embrace, Alkaid's mind spun as she thought of which acceptable target she should unleash her little killing machine onto next.

 _Hmm… Gangs are always an option, but kind of boring. But I'm drawing a blank on what else might be acceptable and safe targets. I think I might need some advice._

* * *

A day later, Alkaid and Mina decided to pay a visit to her Father in the Underworld.

The moment the mother and daughter teleported into the throne room of the Lord of the Dead, Mina immediately darted away from Alkaid's side and ran up to Hades. With a flying lunge, the goddess of serial killers grabbed hold of her grandfather's leg in a bear hug.

Alkaid expected her Father to react badly. He was never much of a touchy feely type. As such, his actual reaction to Mina's affection floored her.

Chuckling, the god of the Underworld picked her up gently and put her on his lap.

"Hello, Alkaid, little one." Hades greeted the duo with a welcoming smile. To her, it was a welcoming sight that she hadn't seen in a while.

"Hello, Grandpa." Mina returned immediately with a heartfelt hug of his waist that the Olympian reciprocated by patting her dotingly on her back.

Alkaid was so stunned by this turn of events that she just stood there, unable to even formulate a reply to her Father's greeting.

The surprises didn't seem to be at an end though as while pulling back from their hug, Mina was distracted by the tortured souls sewn into the lord of the dead's robes and curiously began poking at them. Something that earned herself a full bellied laugh of amusement from Alkaid's normally somber Father.

 _When was the last time I heard him laugh so much when it's not winter?_ Alkaid thought in shock, her eyes straying to her Stepmother's throne just to be sure she hadn't secretly popped down to visit and thus was the cause of her husband's unexpected cheery mood.

Nope, still empty save for the small dish of peaches on the throne's right arm that Hades kept there whenever Persephone was away as a reminder that she would return.

"So Alkaid, what brings you down to visit your old father?" The lord of the dead asked, a teasing inflection to his tone.

Giving him a flat look, the daughter of the Underworld couldn't help but ask, "Father, you are in good cheer today. Has something happened?"

"My daughter is visiting and with my granddaughter in tow, how could I not be happy?" Hades said as he patted Mina on the head, incidentally messing up the girl's hair and causing her to busy herself fixing it instead of disturbing the tortured souls.

It might have been Alkaid's imagination, but she thought she might have heard them actually sigh in relief at that.

She ignored the idle thought though, in favour of focusing on the sliver of guilt that wormed its way into her heart at hearing her Father's statement. It was true, she had been rather busy as of late with her own family and projects. As a result, she'd not visited her Father in some time.

"Is it _that_ lonely for you when Stepmother is away and no one else is around?" Alkaid asked genuinely worried for her Father's emotional wellbeing. While he was a god, he was still a sensitive deity at heart. "Surely Mel visits, or if not you can go visit Maka."

"We are sadly all a little too busy to spend time together. Especially with Father on the rise once more." Hades said with a frustrated sigh. "Melinoe is running herself and her ghosts ragged trying to keep abreast of the situation, while Makaria has been swamped by a flood of new arrivals to her domain created by the conflicts spawned by the Crooked One's influence."

Alkaid blinked in surprise at that. She knew both her sisters as goddesses would inevitably be drawn into the conflict with their grandfather but she hadn't expected them to join in till later. She wondered if she could do anything to help them-

 _Wait! One thing at a time. For now, let's focus on helping Father with his loneliness. I think I should start a weekly family get together. It would do us all some good I think._ Alkaid mused. Just another thing to add to the list of things to do. Right behind figuring out ways to ease her divine sisters' burdens during this Second Titanomachy.

Why was she, the mortal sister, doing all this again? Oh right! Because they were family. She really wished the rest of the Olympians were as family minded as the House of Hades. It would solve so many problems.

It would certainly cut down on her to do list and allow her to be less of a busy bee. Not that the sorceress didn't enjoy being so busy, of course. Being able to handle the workload reflected well on her, after all. Shaking her head, she decided to address why she had come to visit, hoping it wouldn't rain on her Father's good mood.

"I actually came to speak about Mina's… urges."

Hades put his hands over Mina's ears, much to her dissatisfaction, "I know she's a goddess, daughter, but don't you think her mentality is still too young for that?"

Resisting the urge to palm her face, Alkaid answered in an exasperated tone, "Not that! Honestly, you and the rest of the gods, I swear…"

"Last I checked, you're even younger than her." Hades said, but to Alkaid it was a childish rebuttal.

"By the Pit, we are _not_ talking about this again." The child of Hades did palm her face this time, the desire to do so was far too strong. "I'm talking about Mina's need to kill. It's been bothering her."

"Oh. That. You mean she wasn't killing already?" Hades said in actual surprise as he removed his hands from Mina's ears.

"Only a little bit, until yesterday! Yesterday, Mum and Mama let me go all stabbity stab kill kill on a bunch of low life gangbangers. It was so, so fun! The blood was all warm and tingly." Mina declared happily before dissolving into giggles.

Hades smiled at the adorable little murderous goddess.

"Indeed?" Mina nodded at her grandfather's question and Hades hummed intently for a moment before continuing. "Well, I'm sure being your prey, granddaughter, was the highlight of their short, wasted lives."

Alkaid just shook her head at her Father's judgemental view. Then again, he was the ultimate judge of the Underworld, so perhaps it was part of his character.

"Father," Alkaid said after clearing her throat to gain his attention. "I'm actually here to ask for your opinion on a matter."

Hades waved at her to continue, a motion that Mina copied to their mutual amusement.

Ignoring the insanity her daughter seem to have induced in her usually oh so stoic Father, Alkaid kept going.

"My idea is for Mina to kill targets slated for death." The demigoddess informed her Father. "I was hoping you would have a possible list of Olympus' most wanted. That way we can kill, literally, two birds with one stone."

"I'll stabbity stab them till they're dead!" Mina chimed in cheerfully. She made mock jabbing motions in the air that she punctuated with little swooshing sounds that she mouthed under her breath.

The lord of the Underworld mulled over Alkaid's suggestion for a moment, before replying. "I think, Alkaid, that I might have a better option. Rather than pitting your daughter against the strongest and vilest monsters our mythos has to muster, and thus putting her firmly in the middle of this war, why not keep her neutral by killing equally dangerous and deserving targets instead."

"Such as?"

"There are certain beings who deserve to die," Hades said, his lips curled into a sour expression. "They have been judged by gods and man to deserve death, but sadly cannot be killed. However, Mina's ability to impose death could solve that."

Mina tilted her head to the side, "I can make them die when I kill them?"

"Yes, little one."

"Yay!" The little murder goddess cheered gleefully.

"And where can I find these beings?" Alkaid inquired.

Hades smiled. It wasn't the happy smile he had been sporting earlier, that of a loving family man whose family was all away and had been pleasantly surprised by an unexpected visit. No, this was the grim smile of the Lord of the Underworld. A smile that had damned the souls of men for ages uncounted.

With a snap of his finger and a dramatic burst of black fire, a piece of paper floated in front of the demigoddess.

"Here's a list." The Lord of the Dead said, that terrifying smile still on his face.

A smile that was matched by both his daughter and granddaughter as he handed it over to Alkaid.

Mina however took it a step further and actively cheered, "Wah! Wah! I'mma kill 'em good!"

This just tickled both the god and his daughter and they shot the little girl amused grins, with Hades even patting her on the head.

"Thank you, Father," Alkaid said with a bow. "This will sure to be useful."

Hades just nodded and looked on wistfully as Mina squirmed off his lap and ran to her mother's side.

"Mummy, let's go killing! Let's! Let's!" The excitable goddess begged while bouncing in place. Her energy akin to a child on a sugar rush.

"We'll need to look through this and decide who to target first." Alkaid said, earning her a pout from her daughter. "But I promise you'll have your fill soon enough."

"Yay! I wanna be showered in their blood!"

"Not all of them have blood." Hades chimed in, a teasing smirk on his face.

"Aw," Mina pouted like someone decapitated a puppy in front of her. One that she had wanted to decapitate.

Alkaid shot her Father an annoyed look, even as she hastily reassured her daughter.

"We'll make sure to pick one who's full of blood. Enough for you to bathe in it."

"Yay! Mum's the bestest!" Mina cheered as she hugged Alkaid tightly around the waist and went back to bouncing excitedly.

"It's humorous seeing you try to appease a demanding child." Hades told her with mirth.

"I feel as thought you are insinuating something," Alkaid huffed as she patted her daughter on the head. Ugh, just thinking of the mess to clean up later made the mortal want to cry. However, if it was for her daughter's happiness, she'd bear with it.

Turning back to her bemused Father, Alkaid sketched a farewell bow while using her arm to guide Mina to do the same. "And I promise you Father, to visit soon but for now we must be taking our leave."

Hades raised a curious eyebrow at her promise which to him must have seemed like it had come out of nowhere. Ultimately though he just shrugged and chose to just let it be.

"I'll hold you to that promise." Hades said with a dismissive wave. "Now go get your daughter her fix."

"Please do not make it sound like she is an addict of some kind." Alkaid pleaded but offered him a warm smile, "Thanks again, Father."

Grasping hold of Mina's hand tightly, the sorceress Shadow Traveled both of them out of the Underworld.

* * *

After the eventful trip to the Underworld, Alkaid had gone into full research mode for the best target or targets to let her daughter sate her need to kill on. Laying in her bed, she carefully looked over the papers she had arranged across her bedspread with her magical glasses resting on her nose. Using a combination of her research skills and a pair of her Gale-Force glasses, she'd been able to read through all the substantial amount of information on the various targets on her Father's list.

It had taken her till the late night, but she was thankfully finally narrowing it down to a handful of plausible targets.

Some like the Aztec god of human sacrifice, Huitzilopochtli, were totally out of the question for political reasons. They didn't want to start a war with the Aztec pantheon after all.

Others like the Wendigo weren't so much a single being as a magical disease that transformed its victims into the iconic cannibalistic monsters. While Mina could kill anything, she could only do so one entity or mass of entities at a time, having to stab them with her daggers to impose her power. This made it next to impossible for her to properly tackle something like the Wendigo.

That still left them spoiled for choice though. That said, the prison for major supernatural threats that the federal government had set up out in the New Mexican desert looked the most promising. According to her research, no less than a dozen of the hundred or so names on her Father's list were imprisoned there. This made it the single largest concentration of potential targets, and seemingly their most logical choice. However, hitting it ran the risk of incurring the wrath of the government and that was even without considering whether they were even able to get past its likely nigh impenetrable defenses.

 _Perhaps we can just give them a call and ask nicely?_ Alkaid thought to herself derisively. _Like that would work. They'd sooner throw us in there than let us waltz in there and kill their prisoners for them._

Her thoughts were broken as the door opened and Pyrrha walked in, wearing a simple tanktop and panties. Her lover eyed their bed and sighed.

"Kaidy, maybe it's time to take a break? We can pick something in the morning."

"I just want to read for a bit longer, Pyrrha." Alkaid assured her as she stacked some papers into a pile.

A sly smile crossed Pyrrha's loving face as she slid onto the bed, cozying next to her and peering over her shoulder.

"You know, if you have time to read, then maybe we should do something more… productive?"

The daughter of war's warm breath tickled her ear, and elicited a small shiver from the brunette. Suddenly the buxom young woman felt warm hands cupping her breasts, giving them both a gentle squeeze. Alkaid barely bit back a pleasant gasp at the stimulating touch, and was ready to fold right then and there. Thankfully, Pyrrha didn't know that and left a trail of hot kisses along her pale shoulders as she inched her way to bite down on the right shoulder strap of the slip that served as her only nightwear.

Teasing the strap with her teeth, Pyrrha questioned her lover once more.

"You sure you don't want to just pick in the morning?"

The sorceress squirmed under the redhead's ministrations, but a soft rebuttal came out in response, "Honestly, how insatiable are you?"

Releasing the strap from between her teeth, the redhead mock pouted, "Is that a no?"

Growling in frustration at the sudden end to their foreplay, Alkaid waved her hands at the papers and sent them flying towards her work desk in the corner of the room where they stacked themselves into a neat little pile.

"Oh you daring minx." Alkaid said, her voice heavy with want as she turned her full attention to her lover all while she worked her arms out from under the straps of her slip.

"I learned from the best." Pyrrha retorted cheekily as she leaned back just a little to admire how the silk of Alkaid's lingerie slowly fell down the length of her body and exposed more of the daughter of Hades' beautiful creamy skin for her inspection.

"Seems my naughty little Py needs to be tended to." Alkaid said, just as her slip began to slip pass her bust. "I'll be more than happy to o-"

Unfortunately for the couple, it was precisely at this moment that the door to their room slammed open. Neither Alkaid nor Pyrrha needed to turn towards the door to know that their darling daughter had decided to skip into their room.

If Alkaid was any other woman, she might have squealed in embarrassment at being caught by her daughter with her nightclothes halfway falling off her body as a prelude to her having her way with her lover. The daughter of Hades however was made of sterner stuff than most. As such, she merely calmly grabbed hold of her slip with one hand to prevent it from falling further even while she slipped her other arm back under the strap.

 _Yes, yes that is shame filling me. Gods! As if I needed my daughter to see this!_ Alkaid thought mortified even as she finished fixing her slip back on properly. Sure, Mina had probably seen worse, but Alkaid was her _mother_!

"Mum, Mama! I'm back!" The little hellion announced happily.

"W-Welcome back, uh, kiddo." Pyrrha stammered, her cheeks matching the color of her hair.

"How was Chicago?" Alkaid asked, surprisingly calm considering the situation.

"It was great! The gang I found there tonight was even bigger than the one in L.A.!" The little serial killer said as she happily bounced on her feet. "I had so much fun killing them~!"

"I can see that." Alkaid said with a smile as she slid off the bed, using a summoning spell to pull some tissue into her hand. "You got blood on your face."

"It's still there?" Mina asked as she tried to rub her cheek, only for Alkaid to bat her hand away and clean it for the girl. "I thought I washed it all off already."

"Well, you missed some." Pyrrha informed her with a chuckle. It seemed even the redhead had conceded that the passion of the moment was now lost, but that was fine… for now.

"Well, I just wanna sleep with my mums after doing my good deed of the day!" Mina said, jumping onto the bed between them.

Pyrrha turned to Alakid and shrugged, "Well, she just did Chicago a _major_ service."

"Indeed she did. As expected of our darling." Alkaid smiled even though was inwardly crying as blood stained their silk sheets. Waving her hand, Alkaid transfigured Mina's dirty clothes into a clean nightgown and vanished what blood she could. The life fluid was notoriously tricky to clean with magic though, due to its own inherent magical properties, so she'd have to make sure she had the Elves clean it several more times to make sure all the blood was washed out.

Sighing at the hassle all that cleaning would cause, even if she wouldn't have to directly deal with it, she crawled back onto the bed.

Mina immediately grabbed hold of her with one arm and pulled her close. Having already done the same with Pyrrha, this brought the three of them together into a tight cuddle. One in which the little goddess was perfectly content to snuggle into.

Presumably tired after her hunt and happy to be surrounded by her loving parents, Mina quickly drifted off to sleep.

The soft snores of their baby girl was like a lullaby itself and the couple soon found themselves on the verge of dozing off themselves. They did however manage to share one last meaningful look with each other.

Alkaid telepathically told Pyrrha, _Once we get a babysitter, I am rocking your world._

Pyrrha's lips curled into a small smile and pecked her on the lips in clear agreement.

* * *

 **Done and done! Thanks to the wonderful team of Axios and Nameless as always!**

 **Wow, so uh, good news! I finally got a full time job! Yay income! And benefits, thank you god for benefits. It's an IT job but it makes me happy and I got some good people to work with. So enough of my life, onto whatever speak we got going on.**

 **Nameless: Well, it's been a while. Where were we? Well, E4E listed one reason for our slowdown. Beyond that though, we also decided to take a break the past few weeks to plot out another side project. We realized that variety is life, don't ya know? Or in less philosophical terms, we decided we would like an alternate project besides TOT for us to rotate to when we need a break from the Heroineverse. What's this new project about? Well, it's called, Rise of Prodigies. For any other details, well we think we'll keep you guessing for now. Feel free to guess away in the reviews!**

 **I like the departure in this chapter from our increasingly formulaic style of writing in the Heroineverse. Some helpful reviewer, honestly can't recall who now, commented that we seemed to have fallen into a pattern of starting every chapter with fluff and then ending it with action. The break helped us with that too. As you can hopefully see in this chapter. Just focusing on family moments alone can be fun too, which is what we did here. Next chapter, we can go right into the action and other fun stuff.**

 **Nameless: Yup. The break really helped us on this front too. It'll be an ongoing issue though, so if you guys see us regressing please do let us know. Onto to the chapter's content. Mina is adorifying, especially in that last scene. No? Well, I'm sure many parents with little kids will agree, if you catch my drift. XD**

 **Ah Mina, the cockblocker of many. Truly she is a treasure. Though it might be the one time Al and Py disagree.**

 **Well, you know what to do! Smash that review button and tell us what you loved! No flames, and peace out my peeps!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson or Harry Potter.**

 **Consul of the Underworld: Grinding Phase**

 **Chapter Sixteen: Mina Potter-Branwen, Justice Girl**

 **Beta: ShadowofAxios**

* * *

In the middle of the wilderness that was the New Mexican desert stood a single nondescript building. Connected to the rest of the world by a single road that snaked through its inhospitable surroundings and with little to distinguish it from an ordinary storage compound besides its location, to an outside observer it would appear to be nothing more than a remote cluster of warehouses whose contents were perhaps to be reserved for an emergency.

While it did serve this function, its primary purpose was vastly different. In numerous underground vaults beneath the facility there were some of the most dangerous supernatural entities ever encountered by man. For this was no mere storage facility, this was the United States Maximum Security Supernatural Containment Facility.

It was into the depths of this clandestine, and in some circles infamous, facility that Alkaid Shadow-Traveled her family.

"I feel like we should at least be in tactical gear. I honestly don't like us being here at all, Kaidy." Pyrrha frowned as she looked around the hallway they found themselves in. It was lined on either side by vault doors that must have sealed up various cells. On the right side of each door was a mounted touch screen computer whose default screensaver appeared to be a presentation on the inmate contained in the cell. Just a casual glance at some of the _things_ shown in the photos in those presentations sent a chill down Pyrrha's spine.

"There's nothing to worry about," Alkaid assured the daughter of Ares with a small smile, "Everyone here is on death row. We're just accelerating the time of their deaths in the name of justice."

"The Feds won't exactly agree if they catch us." Pyrrha countered, a scowl now coming to her face. "Just being here has to break a couple dozen different laws. You sure they don't know we're here?"

"As sure as I can be," Alkaid reassured her girlfriend. "I've tampered with the facility's wards so they can't detect Shadow Travel outside of the cells and I've also hacked into the electronic surveillance systems to shut them down, so there's no real way for them to detect us."

"Look at all the to-be dead people, mums!" Mina cheered, her pale cheeks rosy and her eyes sparkling as she looked around excitedly.

"Yeah, it's quite the list huh?" Pyrrha said distractedly while still looking uneasily at Alkaid. "And they can't sense us just walking around with magic?"

"I've tampered with the wards there and added us as exceptions."

"Mum thinks of everything!" Mina chimed in with a broad smile. "Now we can go kill baddies in peace. Justice!"

"Ah, the hero phase has arrived." Pyrrha gave a soft chuckle. "Yeah yeah, let's go kill some baddies, Mina."

"Yes, but let's be systematic about it and go through this list in order." Alkaid said with that serious face of hers. The one that said she wasn't going to like being questioned.

Sighing in resignation, Pyrrha just nodded. Though hers was meek in comparison to the enthusiastic response from Mina. Honestly, if the goddess was anymore vigorous about it, her little head might just fall off.

Putting a hand on her head to stop the girl from overdoing it, Pyrrha gestured for Alkaid to lead the way.

"Come, Mina." The brunette said authoritatively as she waved her hand and conjured some kind of compass made of light that pointed down the hall. "I believe your first target should be this way."

"Yay, it's killing time!"

"Just a little more." Pyrrha said placatingly, sending her daughter a long suffering smile.

Her little murderer was insatiable wasn't she? She'd just massacred a whole street gang in Chicago last night, bloodily enough mind you that it made the national news and here she was thirsting for more blood. Sure, as a daughter of war herself, Pyrrha understood bloodlust. Still, even to her, this was a little extreme.

That said, she didn't and would never say anything. Not when this extreme murderous desire was a core part of her daughter's being. It didn't stop it from unnerving her though.

Pyrrha mulled on these thoughts as she followed her girlfriend and daughter down the hallway full of eldritch abominations. Occasionally, Mina would stop and ask Alkaid if the occupant inside a particular cell was the one they were looking for only to be disappointed by a negative shake of the brunette's head.

 _There's a pattern in her choices,_ Pyrrha noted as she kept pace. _She's overlooking the more inhuman looking creatures and only asking about the humanoid ones. That's a little disturbing. Does she only get her fill out of killing humans or those that look human?_

"Relax, Py." Alkaid whispered as she stopped to give her shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "Mina's just more familiar with humanoids is all. She _was_ Jack the Ripper. Killing humans is her speciality."

"What about monsters?"

"Shouldn't be a problem. Her ability to impose death comes from her domain over killing. It's not specific."

"You're sure?"

"Positive. I had her test it out on a pig shaped Anemoi Thuellai the other day."

"It squealed like a real pig," Mina chimed in with a nostalgic smile on her face. "Oh! I hope the thing we kill today does too. I like piggy noises!"

"Okay, at least you tested it." Pyrrha said, relieved. "And it took the form of a pig? Really?"

Alkaid shrugged. "It likely wasn't the smartest storm spirit."

"You think?" Pyrrha retorted with a snort.

"Ah! Mama made a piggy noise." Mina teasingly pointed out.

"I'll have you know boars are my dad's sacred animal," Pyrrha reminded her daughter. "So it's perfectly respectable for a child of Ares to make pig noises."

"Hehe, piggies." Mina giggled into her hands, looking mischievous.

Pyrrha was about to reprimand her daughter but luckily for the brat they had apparently reached their destination.

"Here it is," Alkaid declared, her compass pointing firmly at the door to the cell to their right. "The cell of the Greater Demon of Lust, Sidroth the Sinuous."

That poured cold water on everything and knowing the answer, Pyrrha asked the all important question one last time.

"You sure this is a good idea?"

"Mina has no, well, desires at the moment. It should be a safe target for her."

"That's not what I meant." Pyrrha said with a glare. Alkaid knew full well what she was talking about. "Is it really okay to just kill this thing?"

"It's on death row, Pyrrha." Alkaid shot back. "The only reason it's still alive is because the Feds haven't figured out _how_ to kill it yet. We have a way."

Pyrrha shot her an unconvinced look.

Alkaid sighed in frustration, before replying. "Think of it as us accelerating the course of justice."

"And when the Feds find their inmate missing? What then?"

"They'll thank us? They certainly won't come arrest us, if that's what you're worrying about." Alkaid assured her. "Father will see to that."

"I hope you're right." Pyrrha sighed and rubbed the back of her neck. _Still, I wish you didn't go to your old man for a get out of jail free card._

"I always am." Alkaid said with a playful smirk.

"Mama, Mum! Stop flirting! It's killing time!" Mina whined. "Grandpa Hades is probably getting impatient too."

"What does Hades have to do with anything?" Pyrrha asked, confused.

"You do remember that he steered us here, right? By filling the list with beings locked up here?" Alkaid clarified. "He didn't say it, but he's probably planning to sell Mina's 'waste disposal' services to the Feds and is using tonight as a proof of product before he makes his offer."

"Yup, yup." Mina confirmed. "Grandpa Hades is being sneaky."

"How lucrative." Pyrrha said, her cheeks red. She hated that she had thought her girlfriend was just being a daddy's girl. Honestly, she should know better by now, right?

"It should be. The Feds would probably pay through the nose, pardon the phrase, for a service like this."

"Do we get a cut?"

"Mina getting her fix isn't good enough?" Alkaid asked with a mischievous smirk. "But, seriously? Of course we will. I have no idea what it'll be but I'm pretty sure it'll be substantial. My Father is scrupulously fair."

"I'm going to fill my piggy bank." Mina chirped.

 _What's with all the pig references today?_ Pyrrha groaned but nodded. "Alright. If you save enough, you might be able to get something nice."

"Like what?" Mina pondered. "I'm a goddess right? I can get whatever I want right?"

"Have you learned conjuration yet?" Alkaid asked airily.

"No~" Mina replied with a pout.

"Then you'll still need to buy most things." Pyrrha informed the now disappointed goddess. "So that money will come in useful after all."

"I want a vroom vroom."

 _...The horror! It'd be a death machine._ Pyrrha inwardly panicked. "Uh, sure. We'll check it out."

"Okay, enough distracting chit chat," Alkaid said with a apologetic smile. "This door is proving a lot tougher than I expected. I need to focus."

"Sure thing, 'Kaidy. We'll be quiet." Pyrrha said dutifully, even as Mina covered her mouth with both hands.

 _When did she even start hacking the wards? I never noticed._ Pyrrha boggled even as she watched Alkaid work, this time more obviously as magic circles occasionally popped in and out of existence around her and the door. _She's really gotten good at this subtle magic thing, huh? Too bad she doesn't really use it in a fight, bet it would be cool to see. If it didn't get us killed that is._

Despite her admiring thoughts however, Pyrrha didn't forget where they were and kept a lookout for guards. If Alkaid didn't want to be disturbed by chatting then a guard showing up was probably the last thing she wanted.

Despite being filled with people on death row, it was silent. Eerily so.

"No need to worry about guards Mama," Mina assured her in a whisper.

"You do something?"

The little goddess shook her head.

"No guard would ever come here. No need. Not when _she's_ here." Mina said pointing to a cell down the row. "She makes sure no one gets out."

"And people getting in?"

"She knows why we're here. I told her. She's okay with it."

"Do I want to know who she is?

Mina wrinkled her nose, "She's not a nice thing. I don't wanna go near her, she's always crying. At least when she's not just destroying you for one reason or the other."

"Leave it, Pyrrha." Alkaid took a moment from her ward hacking to add. "Some things are best left unknown."

Pyrrha felt a chill go down her spine at that. A being that Mina kept away from and which Alkaid warned her against learning about? Whatever it was sounded terrifying. For the first time since she learned she was a daughter of Ares, she decided to practice the better part of valor and leave well enough alone.

"And with a little tweak here, that should be that!" Alkaid softly cheered as the ward blocking the cell weakened. Just enough for them to swing the door open.

As it did, it revealed the prisoner within, Sidroth the Sinuous.

The Greater Demon of Lust was a naga-like being with a serpentine lower body covered in scales that shimmered like jewels. It was an androgynous creature with a face that was the pinnacle of masculine perfection but yet had two perfectly enticing female breasts that despite being bare to the world was perfectly perky without the slightest hint of sagging. It had four arms: two of which ended with human-like hands, while the remaining pair ended with large crab-like claws. These appendages were bound to the cell walls with thick metal chains covered in glowing runes.

Against her better judgment, Pyrrha couldn't help but find it incredibly attractive despite its monstrous appearance. A sentiment that Alkaid shared if her awed gasp was any indication.

 _Okay, I ain't no furry but holy shit… that is one attractive snake dude chick thing._

Seemingly unfazed by whatever power that the demon was using, Mina rushed forward her knives ready to kill it.

Pyrrha opened her mouth to stop her from killing this specimen of perfect beauty but her reason caught up to her quickly enough and she managed to transform it into a simple wordless cry.

Seeing that it would be getting no help from them, the demon shifted its jewel like eyes off the two demigods and onto the goddess that it was fending off with its tail. It had so far been successful, its whip like tail lashes being able to keep Mina away. However, the goddess was inching closer to its restrained form with each evasion and it was managing to avoid getting stabbed by an ever shrinking margin.

Though Pyrrha was only just realizing this. She had been so caught up in the creature's charm that until it shifted its attention away, she'd not even noticed that Mina had already engaged the thing.

"Opening the cell," Alkaid said breathlessly. "It must have weakened the wards dampening its powers. It tried to charm us."

"No shit, 'Kaidy." Pyrrha replied as she leaned against the open door frame to regain her bearings. "Shit! It's breaking free!"

In the cell, Sidroth was indeed breaking free of its chains. Flexing its perfectly toned muscles, it pulled hard against its bonds, causing the links to strain and groan. Unable to withstand its strength, they slowly snapped one after another. As the last chain snapped, it ripped the shattered remains of the heavy bindings off and tossed them at Mina, forcing her away.

With some distance from its opponent gained for the moment, the demon turned its attention to the demigoddesses. Smiling winsomely at the two women, it applied all of its supernatural charm at them.

"Why thank you darlings for freeing me." The being's voice was somehow baritone yet sweet as honey all at once. "Now why don't you come and join me. I've been ever so lonely."

It wasn't wrong to shiver in delight at its voice, right? ...Right?

Fortunately for the two demigoddess, their daughter was not about to let a sleazy lust demon mind control her parents.

"Leave my mums alone! Snakes are icky and gross!" Mina screamed as she seemed to teleport onto its back and stabbed down into its neck, releasing a fountain of rainbow coloured blood and causing the demon to shriek in pained ecstasy. "No snake makes goo-goo eyes at my mums! Now die, die, die!"

Despite its reaction though, the demon kept its composure enough to grab the comparatively tiny goddess with its clawed hands and toss her away from itself before immediately attempting to flee.

"Mina! Don't let it get away!" Alkaid ordered even as she erected a array of barriers in front of the open cell door that the demon was slithering towards.

"We're going to my playground." Mina hissed, her teeth bare and her canines looking sharp. "I want your blood to paint my streets. _**Darkened Misty Metropolis!**_ "

The mad goddess giggled, her voice echoing as billowing thick smog seemed to fill their surroundings from out of nowhere. It rushed pass them from all directions in a swirling vortex that swallowed all of them up without even a chance of escape.

Blinking her eyes open, Pyrrha could only see about a few feet in front of her in the dense fog that had blanketed the area. An area which had also been transformed. Where beforehand she had been in the middle of a prison, now she stood in a cobblestone street straight out of Victorian London.

"'Kaidy, Mina? Either of you here?" Pyrrha asked warily as she summoned her Labrys into her hands.

"Pyrrha," Alkaid said as she walked out of the mist to her right, seemingly unfazed by the odd new environment.

 _She looks like she's actually familiar with this place. Oh! Who am I kidding? She definitely is. I bet she had Mina show her all her tricks at some point. Damned wish I had thought to do the same._

"Ah, the choking taste of the air. It feels like home." Mina's voice echoed from everywhere. "I hope you like it, it's the last thing you'll taste. Besides your own blood! Die! Die! I want to bathe in your blood!"

"Quaint little pocket dimension you've created, little goddess." The demon's alluring voice hissed back in anger. "I'll enjoy tearing it to pieces."

"Hehe, heehee!" Mina's mad giggles echoed.

"What do we do now?" Pyrrha asked her lover, honestly at a lost.

"Fire support." Alkaid said briskly as she gestured for Pyrrha to follow. "Mina is keeping the demon as far away from us as possible so it can't charm us. But that doesn't mean we can't help her. Even from range we can hit it with our magic."

Pyrrha snorted at that. ' _Our magic'? Yeah right… I'm practically useless as fire support. There's a reason why I'm a close combat witch._

"Right, you set up and I'll keep it back if it wants to dazzle us again."

"No point to that," Alkaid cut in harshly as she summoned a magical platform under them. "If it hits us, we're charmed. That thing's allure is too powerful for either of us to resist. No, we'll just have to hit it from far away and behind cover."

"So what will I do?" Pyrrha asked, frustrated and on the verge of whining.

"Use the Levitation Charm and send rubble flying at the thing?" Alkaid said with a shrug as they sped through the cramped streets of Mina's pocket world. "Just because you don't know many bombardment spells doesn't mean you can't improvise."

"That's actually a good idea." Pyrrha mused as they came to a stop. "So where should I aim?"

"Grrh! Stand still you slippery booby snake thing!"

Alkaid just shot Pyrrha an amused smile and nodded towards the direction of their daughter's annoyed shout.

 _Yeah, won't be so hard to aim as long as I follow Mina's shouting._ Pyrrh shook her head and pulled out her wand.

"Let's begin shall we? _**επικαλούνται: Οι Επτά βέλη της η Μεγάλη Άρκτος**_ (Invoke: The Seven Arrows of the Big Dipper)!" Alkaid incanted and sent seven meteors hurtling down from the sky in the direction of the fight between Mina and the demon.

"Are you insane mortals?" The demon hissed. "What if you hit your daughter?"

"Haha, rocks are fun! No worries Mum! I can take it!"

"Well, here's a little from me too. _Bombarda_!" Pyrrha said shattering a section of the road into large chunks of rock perfect to serve as projectiles. " _Wingardium Leviosa_!"

At her command, the boulder sized rocks hurtled through the sky at the divine fight.

"It's raining rocks! It's raining rocks!" Mina sang playfully even as the demon's unintelligible curses echoed over the distance. "It's raining, it's pouring, the snakey's going to be squished!"

 _Yes, our girl is tone deaf._ Pyrrha winced at the shouting.

" **Divine Buster, Judgement Barrage!** " Alkaid incanted, ignoring the banter and sending a brace of massive green beams of magical energy shooting at the distant battlefield.

"I forget how ridiculous your magic is." Pyrrha said, admiring the lightshow.

"Less talk, more spells." Alkaid reminded her as she began to work on another spell.

* * *

Mina laughed with childish glee as she danced around her Mum's magical barrage that tore up the whole area around her and that shitty demon. Teehee! She loved all the colorful explosions!

She especially liked it when one of the beams slammed into the snakeman-woman-thing's back because she distracted it and it's back exploded in all that pretty rainbow blood! Her Mum made such beautiful art!

Maybe they should do some arts and crafts some time? They could make a day of it!

"Curse those interfering mortals! What right do they have to be on this battlefield except to be my thralls!" The demon ranted in that slimy voice that it had. "And curse you, you brat! Why don't you have lusts I can exploit!"

"My mums go where I go, stupid-face!" Mina stuck her tongue out as dozens of her knives danced in the air around her. The goddess sent each one of the wickedly serrated blades slicing through the air but sadly they stabbed only cobble as the demon slithered out of the way.

"And I'ma little girl! Why would I have grown-up things like that? All I have is _blood_ lust!" The serial killer continued her reply as she conjured a new set of knives around her.

"Which I sadly cannot manipulate! Argh! Why does your one lust fall under the power of the uncouth spawns of Satan!" The demon bemoaned as it used its clawed hands to bat away another brace of Mina's throwing knives.

"Grandpa doesn't like you guys from the Inferno, you're all bad for business apparently." Mina retorted as she weaved through its claws, sinking two daggers into the grossly exposed tits. Her mummies had nice boobs too, nice enough that Mina wanted hers to be just like theirs when she grew up, but they had the decency to keep them covered instead of distracting everyone with how perfect they were all the time. This idiot was just being rude to let its rack just hang out like that.

Grandma Persephone had said that people like that were hussies just like those that Mina could remember from back in London. She didn't like hussies. They were all stupid and mean.

"Why are you even trying to kill me, you brat?" The demon asked with annoyed curiosity as it summoned a wavy looking sword into each of its human hands and tried to use them like a scissor to cut Mina in half. "I'm not going to escape. I know better!"

"Because mummy told me you were bad. And, and, and~! I can kill ya!" Mina replied cheerily and complemented with a wide and demented smile. " **Fan of Knives!** "

At her shout, she swung her hands in a wide arc in front of her, unleashing an immense number of her deadly blades.

"Are you a cartoon character?!" The demon hissed in exasperation even as it began spinning its twin swords in front of it like a pair of giant blenders and knocked most of the knives out of the way.

"Who calls out attack names?!" The sexy demon said with a wince as a handful of the knives found their mark. Not enough to kill it but more than enough to make it feel real pain.

"Me!" Mina said putting up her hand, "It's fun and because I'm a goddess I can do whatever I think is fun. Least that's what Mr. Dionysus tells me. So I'mma torture you dead!"

"Tch, blasted newborn, I'll rip your essense out and feed on it!" The demon taunted even as it had to hastily slither out of the way of a whole block of terrace houses thrown its way like a giant javelin.

 _Wow! That must have taken a lot out of Mama! Mum must have helped her with it._ Mina mused even as she took advantage of the opening the attack created to teleport in close and become a whirling dervish of deadly blades.

The skanky demon surprisingly managed to swing its swords into position quickly enough to actually parry a good bit of her attack, but not before Mina had managed to score a good number of hits that left wounds which bled its pretty technicolor blood.

 _I really, really want to paint with that. I wonder if Mum will let me keep the body?_ Mina thought as she parried the demon's counter strikes that unfortunately managed to push her back out of way of more direct hits. The demon's superior size and mass allowing it to put a lot more force into its blows, enough that it sent Mina skidding or flying back every time their blades met.

Not that it really mattered. She didn't need many more hits to end this anyways. Already the demon was visibly weakened. Not only was it covered in wounds but it was also starting to breath hard, which was kinda weird since she was pretty sure it didn't need to breath.

 _Maybe Mum can explain that later._ Mina mused as she skipped back from a furious swipe by the demon to watch the its life slowly drain away.

The sight sent an excitable shiver down her spine.

One which grew into a full blown excited laugh of demented glee when an armory's worth of spectral swords fell down from the sky. The tired demon barely raised its swords and claws in a bid to defend itself, and to its credit actually managed to knock a good number of the incoming projectiles out of the way, but dozens still managed to pierce its flesh and most importantly its long tail, pinning it to the ground.

Weaving under the feeble guard it tried to put up, Mina buried her blades into the demon of lust's throat and heart.

As it let out gasping gurgles, its blood spilling over her hands, Mina casually dodged its flailing hands as they tried to put pressure on the wounds and/or swat her off all while managing to scoop up a handful of its multicolored blood. Jumping away from the dying demon's and its death throes, she drank deeply from the stolen blood in her cupped hands. As it passed her lips, a weird shudder came over her and outside of her volition, her cheek began glowing with a brilliant blush. There was a strange tingling between her legs too but it was so faint that Mina was pretty sure she just imagined it.

"Mm! Fruity!" The goddess of serial killers chirped, feeling yet another rush as the last slivers of life escaped the demon and its heavy body fell to the ground with a resounding thud.

In death, the slutty demon looked like a dead fish. Then again all bodies tended to look like that. Lifelessly still and all that. But like with the remains of all her victims, Mina couldn't help but enjoy the sight. As her Mum taught her, it was a good thing to be able to appreciate one's work.

"Mummys! All done! Can we keep the body? It tasted good!"

"You ate it!?" Mama shouted incredulously as she and Mum flew over on a magical platform.

"Nope! Just drank its blood!" Mina said, skipping over to them. She was covered in the technicolor blood and held her arms out to let her mummies have a look at the pretty liquid, "It tastes fruity and made me all tingly. It's weird but nice!"

"Weird how?" Mum asked with a cocked brow even as Mama admired the demon's corpse.

"Uh, I dunno." Mina replied with a shrug, but quickly elaborated at her Mum's insistent, concerned look. "It makes me all tingly, but I get that whenever I drink any blood. Maybe a little more than usual 'cos it's powerful and all, but the weird thing was where it made me feel tingly this time."

"And where is that?" Mum pressed. Even Mama had turned to Mina, looking concerned and that just made the little goddess fidget nervously.

 _Is something wrong?_

"Um, uh, between my legs."

Mummies exchanged a look.

"K-Kaidy…" Mama looked nervous.

"I know, I know. I'll be sure to get in touch with Persephone." Mum waved off without a concern. If Mum wasn't worried, then Mina wouldn't be either. "But for now. Mina."

"Yes, Mum?" The little girl replied with a surprised little jump at suddenly being addressed.

"How intense was this tingle?"

Mina cocked her head to the side as she considered the question.

"Ummm…. Just a little bit? I actually thought it might have been just my imagination for a bit."

Mama breathed a relieved sigh and Mum nodded as if what Mina had said confirmed whatever she was thinking.

"Then it shouldn't be a problem. Just an expected side-effect of consuming some of a _lust_ demon's essence." Mum said in that teacher voice she got when she was being all smart.

She loved when Mum was smart.

Mina wished she could be smart like her but she was more like Mama. A doer, not a thinker.

"Makes sense." Mama nodded in agreement, though the slightly lost look in her eyes told Mina she didn't completely follow what Mum was saying. Mina could empathize. Mum could be too smart sometimes. So much so that Mina couldn't understand what she was saying, but could only nod along like Mama did at times.

"That being the case," Mum said, turning to Mina and smiling apologetically. "I'm sorry Mina, but we can't keep the body. I know the blood is delicious to you, but it's just not safe for you to drink too much of it."

Mina pouted and looked to Mama for support, but found her nodding along to what Mum said.

Knowing when she'd lost, Mina decided to apply what Mum had taught her once: when defeated, at least try to get something out of the loss.

"Can I at least take a bottle back home with me?" The goddess asked in her most whiny voice and with her best attempt at the puppy dog eyes.

Mama caved immediately, but turned to look at Mum for confirmation.

Yes, when the two of them ganged up on Mum, even she couldn't defend herself for long!

Proving that fact, Mum gave a resigned sigh and nodded.

Mina would have whooped in joy but that might make Mum change her mind so she held herself back. Instead, she tried to act like a big girl and played it cool. Just like Mum would, 'cos she was amazing like that.

"How do I do this again?" Mina knitted her brow and held her hand in front of her. It was hard to make things that weren't her knives, everything else took too much effort to make. "Mum! Can you make me a bottle? I can't do it…"

Mum leaned down with a pretty smile and ruffled Mina's hair, even as with a bright green pulse of light she conjured a pretty little bottle with shooting stars and other starry stuff running along its sides.

The tiny goddess loved her Mum's star motif, it was beautiful.

"Thanks Mum!" Mina cheered as she grabbed the bottle and skipped over to collect some of her treat. In the background, Mina heard Mum laughing at her enthusiasm but she didn't mind. Mum had a pretty laugh and she liked to hear it.

"Aw, her first spoil of victory since we adopted her." Mama chuckled, joining in on Mum's mirth.

* * *

In the end, rather than teleporting home, Alkaid had just had Mina drop them back at their house as she dispelled her pocket dimension. Being a space outside of their regular universe, where exactly it deposited its occupants when it was dismissed was, within reason, changeable. That Mina hadn't realized that just meant that it became a nice little lesson for their daughter. Considering how few things the sorceress could teach her goddess of a daughter, Alkaid greatly appreciated the opportunity she had been given.

Not that Pyrrha agreed. Then again, she had been forced to sit through a fifteen minute lecture of things she barely understood, so Alkaid could sympathize with her lack of enthusiasm.

Especially when the redhead had confessed later that to her the lecture was tantamount to nothing beyond how space time was "from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint, more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly... time-y wimey... stuff."

Alkaid rebuffed that she was watching too much of the good Doctor.

Pyrrha had scoffed and pointed out that there was no such thing.

That had led to a minor argument that had culminated in quite a pleasant round of make-up sex, which thanks to Mina being away at Camp for her lessons with Mr. D wasn't interrupted.

It was a great relief for all their tension lately. Was there nothing the Doctor could not do?

Alkaid was currently reminiscing about the experience while sitting in the living room watching with a pleasant smile on her face as Mina gave her parents an account of her lessons the previous day.

"And then I threw a knife at one of the annoying kids. I almost took off her head, but Mr. Dionysus said scaring them was just as fun!"

"Glad to hear you didn't kill anyone." Pyrrha said with the resigned voice she'd picked up for whenever they had to deal with their daughter's more murderous tendencies. "It would be a bitch to have to deal with their godly parents if you did."

Alkaid could only nod in agreement.

"Mr. Dionysus said that too." Mina chimed in, sounding disappointed. "He said it was the biggest reason he doesn't just turn all the Campers who annoy him into cute squeaky dolphins. Least then they'd have a use."

"I can empathize." Alkaid admitted freely. That she had little love for the more annoying Campers was well known, though that didn't save her from the warning glare that Pyrrha shot her. Though she ignored it with the ease of practice. Far too much of it, in her opinion.

"You are a counselor there, Kaidy, and part of the staff besides. You gotta deal with them some time. I thought you wanted to be a teacher?"

"...Touche my love, touche." Alkaid conceded. "As for your point about being a teacher, there's nothing that said teachers have to be gracious about tolerating annoying and ungrateful children."

Mina nodded eagerly, her snow white locks bouncing, "Mr. Dionysus says the same thing."

Pyrrha just threw her hands up in defeat.

As if on cue, this was exactly when the doorbell rang.

"Expecting someone?" Alkaid asked her lover.

"No." Pyrrha frowned as her eyes narrowed.

"A delivery then?"

"Didn't order anything." Pyrrha said even as Mina shook her own head in denial.

Alkaid frowned as a house elf popped into the room.

"Mistresses," the diminutive magical creature said with a bow. "Yous have a guest at the door."

"Anyone we know?" Pyrrha asked, her hands twitching in the way that they did when she was itching to summon her labrys.

The house elf shook his head, his large ears flopping crazily, "Not cleared guest. Not VIP. A stranger in a suit, he being. Says from the Feds."

Alkaid raised an eyebrow at that, even as Pyrrha shot her an accusatory look.

 _I guess the government was more concerned about us doing their job for them than I thought they would be._

"Then let's go see what he wants shall we?" Alkaid said airily, without letting on about her unease.

With a nod, Pyrrha joined Alkaid as they walked towards the front door.

"I'm coming too!" Mina demanded as she squeezed her way between her parents and stood in front of them with her hands on her hips. "If he's mean, I'll gut him."

"Alright dear, but no knives in front of guests. It's rude manners." Alkaid said with a smile at their little goddess' protectiveness.

"Aw, alrighty, Mum."

United as one, the family opened their front door to find a nondescript man in a black suit standing patiently on their front porch.

"Good evening ladies," the thoroughly plain man said with a tip of his head. "I'm with the U.S. government. Do you mind if I come inside so we can chat?"

"No pleasantries?" Alkaid asked with a quirk of her brow.

"Would you appreciate them considering the situation?" The man said with a knowing smile.

Alkaid was about to reply but a nudge in the side by Pyrrha preempted her snarky reply

Swallowing the sharp retort she had prepared, the brunette gestured inside, "Please, come in."

The man walked in respectfully and the women followed, though no one was fooled by the facade of civility. The man radiated a sense of smug threat and the family returned it with their own aggressive defensiveness.

A state of affairs that continued as they all took seats in the living room and the house elves served them all tea.

"Tea? How British." The man noted as he took a sip from his offered drink. "And you didn't even ask what I wanted. You really are unsettled. Does my being here really upset you so much?"

"I've bad experiences with dealing with government agents." Alkaid told the man honestly, a tight smile on her face.

"Ah! The fiasco with the fickle idiots at MI5? I've read about that." The agent said with a grimace.

"Yes. Is that what this is lining up to be or are you going to deliver your message from your superior?"

"The latter I assure you." The man said with a pleased sigh as he put his cup down. "Excellent tea by the way. And let me just say that we aren't going to be as stupid about it as MI5 was."

"Gods bless America." Alkaid praised sarcastically. "Yet it still sent a smug smartass into my home."

"No choice in that," the man said with a shrug. "They don't have many options when dealing with people in your power bracket and I can't help how I am."

Pyrrha nudged Alkaid again, a frown on her face. She turned to the man respectfully and asked, "If this isn't going to be like MI5, what's the proposal you have for us?"

"I'll get to that, but first let me offer my thanks for killing off Sidroth. We've been scratching our heads trying to arrange for someone willing and able to do the deed. I even gave a go at it myself, not that it stuck."

Mina giggled, looking bashful, "I tried my hardest!"

"And it's worked." The agent said, offering the little goddess a genuine smile. "That demon is dead for good at last, at least as far as we can tell."

The goddess of serial killers preened at the praise.

"Thanks, Mr.-"

"Agent T. Just call me Agent T." The man said with a wink, even as he cut Mina off.

Alkaid frowned. It was obvious this man was more than he seemed but Mina's reaction sealed it. Whoever he really was, he was someone that moved in the circles of the gods. At least enough that their daughter recognized him.

"Oh! Right. Thanks Mister Agent T!"

The being masquerading as a mortal man laughed uproariously at their daughter's unintentional joke.

"Oh! You're as adorable as they say you are. You know that?"

"I stab all week." Mina puffed up her chest in pride.

The being chuckled, even as he turned to Alkaid and leveled her with a serious look.

"And before you get it into your pretty little head to try and figure out who I am, don't." The man warned. "Your daughter might be immune to the memetic defenses I've put up to keep my identity safe but you're not. You don't want to make her an orphan again, do you?"

Mina gasped, and quickly shook her head.

"Mina doesn't want that!"

The man turned to her with a placatingly smile. "Neither do I, to be honest. That's why I warned your mummies is all. They can be too curious for their own good at times. That means you also shouldn't tell them my real name, okay? My little curse is built into it after all."

The goddess nodded urgently at his warning.

"Honestly, I think it's a little overboard but Washington insisted and who am I to defy my President." The man said as he rambled on. "Great man, but a little too seri-"

Alkaid cleared her throat.

The man shot her a sheepish smile. "Sorry about that."

The sorceress waved the apology away.

While the threat was not appreciated, Alkaid wasn't about to fault the being for it. At least it had the decency to _give_ a warning.

"Warning noted. We'll respect your privacy." The daughter of Hades said impatiently. "Now, shall we get to business? I'm sure your time is precious."

"Not really," the man said with a shrug. "But it always is for you mortals, so sure."

"So what's the message?" Pyrrha asked in an agitated growl.

"Right, right. Sorry got distracted again." The agent said with a apologetic shake of his head. "First and foremost, I need to point out that you all broke the law when you broke into the United States Maximum Security Supernatural Containment Facility. If you didn't get the results we all wanted, I'd be here to drag you away. So next time you want to break into one of our facilities, please call ahead of time for proper arrangements. Less of a mess and a hassle in all honesty."

Agent T shot them all a disapproving frown at that. His frustration at them seemed personal though, almost as if he had been one of those whose lives they had inconvenienced with their stunt.

"Now, we're willing to let you off the hook this time. If, and only if, we exchange for some services with Mina here. Your Father, Hades, has already agreed to it."

 _Of course he has. This was part of his plan the whole time._

"Can I presume that Father has already negotiated payment?"

"Of course." The government agent easily replied. "And don't worry, he made sure you get a decent cut too."

 _That's not the issue._ Alkaid was tempted to tell the being, but held herself back. She wanted this creature gone and dragging it into an argument would be counterproductive to that. Instead, she decided to just be polite about the whole thing.

"Very well. Agent T, we graciously accept this offer." Alkaid smiled at the agent.

"Wonderful! I'll have the documents with the details sent over later." The disguised being said with a pleased smile as he jumped to his feet. "In the meantime, I'll be taking my leave."

"Let us see you out." Alkaid offered as courteously as she could manage.

Agent T offered her a nod for the effort and allowed her to escort him out of the house.

The family watched as he walked off their porch and once he was under the open sky looked up to make sure everything was clear overhead before with a blinding flash and the ear splitting sound of a thunderclap, he was gone.

"Oh, pretty!" Mina clapped.

"Good riddance!"

Alkaid was inclined to agree with her lover. She hated dealing with governments and their agents.

* * *

The back alleys of San Francisco had become quite a seedy place in recent years and it was not uncommon, even in 'safer' neighbourhoods, for it to harbor cheap prostitutes, drug dealers or other savory elements of society. Tonight however these alleys were graced by a group of particularly villainous individuals, namely a group of empousai.

These legendary monsters of seduction however weren't using these darkened backstreets as venues to ply their trade and lure in unwitting prey. Instead, the daughters of Hecate were fleeing for their lives from a hunter that chased them from within a growing bank of fog that crept after them mercilessly.

"Shit! A dead end!" One of the bloodsuckers cursed, even as they were engulfed by the unnatural fog.

Standing on one of Alkaid's magical platforms, the sorceress and her lover watched the whole thing unfold.

"She's got them," Pyrrha noted as she looked down at their daughter's handiwork. "Man, we should've just done this from the get go."

Alkaid shrugged her shoulders, eying the carnage her cute little girl was making, "You are correct, but I just wanted to give Mina some variety to sate her urges. Hopefully this should quell her desires to murder to a manageable degree."

Her darling lover gave an unlady-like snort at that assessment.

"That and I was following Father's suggestion."

"His scheme, you mean?"

Alkaid didn't deny the observation, Pyrrha was essentially correct after all.

"Mum! Mama!" Mina called out, skipping like an adorable pixie of death towards them. Hanging from her hands were half a dozen bronze horseshoes, spoils of war from her prey. "I finished! Can we get ice cream now?"

She beamed at them, dark ichor dripping from her petite body, her yellowish-green eyes large and pleading.

"I don't see why not." Pyrrha confessed as she flicked her wand and muttered an incantation. A quick spell later. their tiny little murder angel was cleaned head to toe, much to her annoyance.

"Aw, I liked the warm feel on my skin."

"Dragging blood into an establishment isn't good manners, Mina." Alkaid offhandedly chided as their daughter stepped onto the magical platform.

"Okay~!"

* * *

It was Sunday, which meant it was time for the weekly Branwen Brunch with Jane. Ever since her kidnapping, both she and Pyrrha had expressed the wish to see her mother once in a while, so the couple had arranged for a weekly meetup to stay in touch and to let the grandmother spoil Mina rotten.

In this same vein, they would also proceed later in the day to make a trip down to the Underworld to spend some time with Hades and Alkaid's sisters. Pyrrha had briefly suggested setting something up with either her Father or cabin at Camp too, but had quickly abandoned the idea when the only thing she got when she raised the idea with them had been laughter.

Alkaid consoled her after that, something that certainly left her lover more perky afterwards.

As the mortals sat around a patio table in the gardens of the Branwen house, they all watched as Mina ran around 'playing' with the Rockwell gnomes. They were playing tag, though that was entirely one sided as the gnomes rightfully fled for their lives.

Jane giggled as Mina trapped a gnome before he used his magic to disappear underground to escape her. Looking back at her daughter and girlfriend, she said, "She's certainly a lively one. I guess gods can be pretty energetic."

A house elf in a pillow case that had been modified into a cute little maid's outfit, popped in beside the table and bowed to the women.

"Foods ready, Mistresses."

"Thank you, Poppy. Serve it up, please." Jane ordered her servant with a smile.

The elf smiled back and snapped her fingers, teleporting in a half dozen dishes of various staples of an English breakfast. Her job done, she offered the women another bow before teleporting away with a pop.

"Mina! You can play with the gnomes later. Brunch is served!" Alkaid called out to her daughter, who was hanging a gnome by his foot with one hand while poking him curiously with her other.

"Aw, alright!" Mina pouted and dropped the gnome to the ground, who then started kissing the ground while bawling. Ignoring that, the goddess slunk over to them and took a seat, slouching as she did so.

Alkaid nudged her with a foot and Mina sat up straighter, but pouted.

"So? What did my three favorite girls do this week?" Jane asked while sipping some tea.

"We got Mina a part-time job," Alkaid said with a mischievous smile.

"It's super fun!" The silver haired girl confirmed with an enthusiastic nod. "I get to stabby stab all kinds of meanies! Hearing them scream is so much fun!"

"Ah, stabby stabbing huh?" Jane said with an confused nod, before shooting her daughter a look that demanded answers.

"We set up an arrangement with the U.S. government so that Mina will use her powers to impose death to kill some pesky immortal things they have locked up on death row." Pyrrha explained as she reached over to scoop some bacon on to her plate.

"That's certainly an interesting deal." Jane said with uncertainty but didn't press further, even choosing to set aside whatever concerns she might have for now. Instead, she picked up a scone from the array of food and changed topics. "How are your classes going, Alkaid?"

"They are going well." Alkaid smiled, "I'm earning my credits and my GPA is holding steady. Though some of my absences are stacking against me and that's pulling my GPA down from a perfect four point zero."

The daughter of Hades pouted adorably at this, her inner perfectionist rattled. She took a muffin to ebb her building annoyance.

"You do important work for the gods, so I guess it can't be helped. And what about you Pyrrha? Found a proper job yet?"

"You know I'm not looking for a job, Mum. I'm perfectly happy as is." Pyrrha replied in a frustrated growl.

"Well, I guess a stay-at-home mum can be quite fulfilling." Jane said agreeably. "Perhaps more so than a career in its own way. So long as you can afford it and you're happy?"

"We can and I am." Pyrrha shot back curtly, not even bothering to dispute her mother's perception of her employment status.

"What about you Jane, anything interesting happen on your end?" Alkaid asked, helpfully moving the direction of the conversation away from the sensitive topic.

"Now that you mention it. I do have something I would like to ask a favour for," Jane said while looking at Pyrrha with a bright smile and a gleam in her eyes. "Pyrrha dear, I came up with a new gun design and I could use some help. Mind lending a hand?"

"Actually Mum, I'm not really interested right now. I'd rather have some more tea." The younger redhead confessed as she sipped from her cup.

Jane actually blinked in confusion at this for a moment before she eyed the skirt Pyrrha was sporting and a look of epiphany spread across her face.

"This has to do with what happened in the Fae Courts, doesn't it?" Jane asked carefully. "Are you trying to make up for going butch after finding out about your father?"

An uncomfortable look crossed the daughter of war's face.

Reaching over to grasp her hand, Alkaid gave her lover a comforting squeeze and an assuring smile.

Pyrrha returned it with a soft smile of her own.

The tense cloud was lifted by Mina who suddenly asked, "Grandma, Mum, Mama, can I go play now?"

Turning to the little goddess, the three adults saw that she'd seemingly inhaled a full half of all the food on the table in the short time that they had been chatting. All without them noticing at all.

The Branwen women shot each other looks of shock and amusement, and judging by the way their cheeks were twitching were suppressing a laugh. This left Alkaid the one to answer the girl.

"Go on then, you little glutton." Alkaid said with an indulgent wave of her hand and an accompanying resigned sigh.

"Yay!" Mina cheered as she dashed off to return to terrorizing the gnomes.

"That girl is going to end up so spoiled it won't be funny." Jane commented after getting herself under control.

"Yeah. You're going to have to take your fair share of the blame for that too, Grandma."

"Guilty as charged." Jane shot back unrepentantly.

As the mother and daughter descended into a exchange of lighthearted barbs, Alkaid could only look on in amusement. She couldn't wait for winter. She missed spending quality time with her stepmother. She would visit Persephone now, but doing that would probably just engender a big row between her stepmother and Demeter which would do nobody any good.

Sighing at the thought, the daughter of Hades comforted herself that winter was only a few more weeks away. That and she took comfort at the warmth of having her lover and daughter at her side.

* * *

 **Omake: All Hail the Nerd**

It was Anime Expo and Alkaid and Pyrrha had decided to attend, bringing Mina along with them. Alkaid had chosen to go all out and decided to cosplay for the event. She'd chosen to dress up as her original take on a magical girl and thus had put on an elaborate sailor fuku with plenty of pink, bows, frills and faux gems. An outfit that she had completed with a candy cane staff that was capped by a jeweled heart and by tying her hair into twintails with a pair of frilly, ribboned hair ties.

She'd not know it for years to come but her costume had inspired a number of aspiring members of the anime industry that had visited the Expo and thus would eventually lead them to create the character of Mamika Kirameki in the 2017 anime, _Re:CREATORS_.

In the present though, Pyrrha couldn't help but play the straight woman in the relationship even as she admired how the costume hugged the brunette in all the right places.

"Babe, I've longed accepted you're a nerd. Allbet an utterly hot nerd, but this is just ridiculous."

"Hm?" Alkaid cocked her head, looking confused as she held Mina's hand.

The young goddess was dressed in her usual sundress and was looking every which way with curiosity. Overall, the white haired murder angel seemed to be enjoying herself.

Annoyance built up in Pyrrha as this seemed to be yet _another_ thing their daughter took after Alkaid.

"I'm all for getting a few comics or whatever, but did you have to deck yourself out like that?" Pyrrha said pointedly at her garb. She felt anger when she saw a few nerds eying her lover a bit longer then she liked.

"Of course! Melinoe would take me to these cons from time to time when I was a kid and we always cosplayed. Though I think it was just to pick up something for whatever fetish she was into at the time. I always had a lot of fun so I thought you and Mina would enjoy it too." Alkaid struck a pose, "Plus I make this look good, no?"

"Yeah, but..." Pyrrha trailed off, unable to bring herself to tell Alkaid that she didn't want anyone but her seeing her all dressed up like this.

"Mum looks totally hot!" Mina said sincerely.

"Aw, thank you Mina." Alkaid patted her head affectionately. "Mum tries her best!"

"And Mama, don't be jealous. Mum is too hot for you to keep all to yourself." Mina said, while rubbing her chin in imitation of a stereotypical wiseman's pose. "You need to share."

The emerald eyed sorceress eyed her now flushed lover, who stammered at Mina's observation.

"Don't you worry, Py." Alkaid winked, "I'll have a special set of cosplay just for your eyes only. And I'll be sure to wear it for you tonight."

"Uh, yeah, sure." Pyrrha answered, refusing to looking at the smoldering gaze of the daughter of Hades.

She'd see enough of it later, that was for sure.

* * *

 **Done and done! Thanks to the team of Nameless and Axios as always!**

 **Man, while its a short arc, I think it was a nice fluff piece to set up the family and such. See how the dynamic is, and just cute moments. You all know I love cute moments. Oh, and demon fighting, that's always fun too.**

 **Nameless: So Alkaid has a meeting with the U.S. feds this time and things went much better than her run in with MI-5. Hope you guys like that. Give us your opinion on that in a review. We would really like to see your opinions on this second take at this particular type of interaction for Alkaid.**

 **Hm, not much else to add except to mention how much of an adordorkable nerd Al can be.**

 **Nameless: Don't forget how adorifying Mina is as well.**

 **Yesh, Pyrrha's got her hands full with these two, huh?**

 **Well, you know what to do! Smash that review button and tell us what you love! No flames and peace off my peeps!**


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson or Harry Potter.**

 **Consul of the Underworld: Grinding Phase**

 **Chapter Seventeen: Siblings FLC**

 **Beta: ShadowofAxios**

* * *

It was early evening in the Potter Manor in California with the setting fall sun painting the living room in a beautiful display of comforting oranges when the fire in the hearth suddenly grew in intensity and turned green. Out of these enchanted flames stepped out the two mistresses of the house, Alkaid and Pyrrha. They had returned home after a long day at Camp, and for Alkaid a day of college classes before that. Thankfully after the whole Golden Fleece quest, things had quieted down in Camp at least. Though they were still utterly exhausted and wanted nothing more than some rest.

Particularly Alkaid, who had been asked by Chiron to help with looking after her fellow children of the Big Three and was suffering for it.

Alkaid didn't mind helping Percy with his training or answering his questions because he was a sweet boy despite his awkwardness around her. It was why she tried to visit him every so often at his home even during the school year when he insisted on staying away from Camp to spend time with his mother, even if it was quite a hassle sometimes.

Now if only the other demigod child of the Big Three running around was as nice as the son of Poseidon. Thalia, the newly revived daughter of Zeus, was utterly intolerable with how gruff and cocksure she was. Now if she had _any_ noteworthy achievements under her belt, Alkaid might have been more understanding. But she had done less than Percy yet seemed to think she was superior to both him and even Alkaid herself. Most of it was bravado, the daughter of Hades could see that much, but it nevertheless made her a horrible pain to be around.

Maybe it was because of their Fathers? But she was getting the urge to smack the little trollop down a few pegs, but that'd just be bullying the child. And yes, despite her teenage appearance, Alkaid still counted the girl as a child due to all the time she spent in her pine. Though if the girl kept annoying her fellow Campers with her attitude, she would be saved the trouble soon. Seriously bad mouthing Percy in front of a Camp full of people who he literally saved just earlier in the year? She was just asking for a beating sooner rather than later.

Sadly Pyrrha's siblings were egging the girl on. Most were still miffed with the whole Master Bolt quest conclusion and were more than happy to side with someone who was as against Percy as they were.

Not that the girl's attempts to grandstand were limited to Percy. Oh no! She seemed to want to pretend that she was better than Alkaid too. Of course whenever the little girl got confrontational with her, Alkaid as Assistant Activities Director simply punished the girl with some of the more… unpleasant chores. The stables were spotless for a whole week thanks to the daughter of Zeus' loving attention until the girl finally wised up and realised it was a good idea to not mess with someone who was her superior.

Of course maybe it was Alkaid's remarks at how Percy was much better behaved then Thalia and the smug smile Alkaid wore when she said it that set the little girl off. Well, it was the brat's own fault for saying she was the best fighter in camp, which was patently false hence the correction. That she couldn't handle the truth wasn't any fault of Alkaid's.

Alkaid was starting to see why her Father had such fun poking his brothers. If their reactions were anything like their children, it must be priceless.

"Mistresses," their Head House Elf said as he popped in and offered them a bow. "Welcome home."

"Yes, Cappy?" Alkaid asked, resisting the urge to just float to bed and deal with whatever issue later. She knew her de facto butler would not have come to greet her in person without a good reason. House Elves by their nature tended to prefer to work unseen and only made an appearance when they had to.

"Guests be waiting in the parlor. Dropped off my Missus Alecto just a short while ago."

"Guests?" Pyrrha asked curiously. "We expecting anyone?"

Alkaid furrowed her brow, "Nothing that comes to mind. Who are they Cappy?"

"A boy and girl, youngins, Mistress."

"Very well, tell them we'll be there in a moment."

Cappy nodded and scurried off to announce them.

The couple followed him at a more sedate pace and walked in to find Baba Yaga in her form as an old crone sitting back in a rocking chair and watching over Mina and a pair of obvious siblings as they seemed to be finishing up a jigsaw puzzle. All while, drinking from a flask that Alkaid was sure was full of some alcohol or the other.

"Oh girls, you're back." The old folk hero greeted with a smile. "You've got more adds."

"Haha, Baba," Alkaid said with a roll of her eyes. "You're too old to be hip. Stop trying."

"Bah, Alecto laughed. Shows how little humor you kiddies have."

"Alecto laughs at Father's lame knock knock jokes. Not even Stepmother laughs at those." Alkaid informed the old witch. "She's not a good gauge for taste in humor."

Judging by Baba's wince she'd heard those jokes too.

"Okay, so maybe I wasn't as funny as I thought."

"I think you're funny, Baba." Mina said as she detached from Pyrrha who she'd been hugging in hello and tackled Alkaid in welcome as well. "Hello, Mum."

"Hello Mina, have you been a good girl?"

"Mina is always a good girl!" The pint sized goddess insisted with a pout.

Alkaid just smiled and ruffled her hair affectionately, which caused her daughter to squirm away and scurry behind Pyrrha for 'protection' much to the three adults' amusement.

"Hello," the older child, the girl, greeted nervously. She had a lean build, with olive skin and black hair and eyes that all but screamed her heritage, to Alkaid at least, as a daughter of Hades.

"Hi," her younger brother greeted shyly. He had messy black hair that made him look like he just got out of bed and the same olive skin as his sister.

"Hello," Alkaid greeted before turning to Baba for answers.

"They're your half siblings by Hades." Baba Yaga informed her. "The girl's name is Bianca di Angelo and the boy's Nico."

"Have they been briefed on what they are and monsters and stuff?" Pyrrha asked. Turning to her, Alkaid noticed that Mina had disappeared as had the di Angelos. It seemed her daughter had dragged them off somewhere in the brief moment she'd taken her eyes off them.

"Your daughter took care of it," the old folk hero said with a grimace.

"Oh." The couple winced in unison.

There was going to be mental scarring, that was for sure.

"I'll go find them," Alkaid said with a sigh. "Pyrrha, see Baba out?"

"Sure thing, 'Kaidy."

"Good luck with the brats, girlie." The old witch said with a toothless grin even as Alkaid just gave the immortal a distracted wave goodbye in response and left the room in search of the children. Not that difficult a task at all when they, or Mina at least, were talking loudly enough to be heard all the way from wherever they'd scampered off to.

Following the sound of their voices, Alkaid found herself outside the door to the small indoor aviary Alkaid had set up for her familiar, Rhip. Curious about her siblings, she decided to do some snooping before actually properly meeting them. As such, she stood in the hall outside the room and tapped into her familiar's senses to see what was going on inside.

Watching through her familiar's eyes she found that he was hiding in the high branches of the artificial trees that dotted the aviary while the children were trying to coax him down with some treats.

"Rhip, you're being a silly birdie!" Mina whined with a pout. "Why are you hiding from me? If you didn't belong to Mum, I would stabby stab you for it."

"Uh," Bianca said a little uncertainly. "Isn't it a little weird for people to keep a raven as a pet?"

"Rhip isn't a pet," Mina corrected. "He's Mum's familiar for her peeping magic."

Alkaid involuntarily twitched at that.

"Whoa," Nico said, his black eyes that he had inherited from Father, widened with excitement, "Can Ms. Alkaid really see through its eyes? Oh, can I learn to do that too if I had one?"

"Hehe, of course you could!" Mina chirped.

"Oh no you don't!" Bianca said sharply. "You're not getting one. You're not going to go around peeping into girls' bathrooms with a familiar!"

Nico sputtered at that, his face coloring at the accusation from his sister.

This left it to a tutting Mina to reply, "Silly, that's not how mummy uses Rhip. She doesn't need to! Mama is more than happy to let her see all the girly bits she wants."

Rhip, the traitor, cawed in agreement, leaving the two di Angelos blushing brilliantly.

While promising her familiar through their link that he wouldn't be getting any treats for the week _at least_ , Alkaid's pale cheeks flushed in anger.

 _It's not like I'm a pervert like the rest of my family, right? Sure, I can be risque, but I'm not insatiable! I'm a healthy sexually active woman for my age._

Shaking her head, she put the thought aside. _I can worry about that later. I have siblings to meet right now._

* * *

A little over five minutes later, the Potters and di Angelos were seated around the Manor's living room while the latter fidgeted nervously as they looked at the two women who were their new guardians expectantly.

In contrast to her younger siblings, Alkaid was quite serene, happily drinking some tea and waiting for one of the two to crack first. Off to the side, Mina was happily doing her homework that Baba Yaga had left for her. Laying on her stomach and merrily kicking her little feet in the air. Of the Potters, the only member who was anything but calm was Pyrrha who unlike the rest of her family was exasperated that Alkaid was putting her own siblings on the spot.

At last with a grunt, Pyrrha decided to take pity on the kids and shook her head.

"Alright, so you two got the gist of your situation right? Any questions?"

"About a hundred," Bianca told her with narrowed eyes. "And not that I don't believe you, but this is kinda overwhelming. Um, Ms. Alkaid are you really our sister?"

Mina popped her head up from her books to reply. "Of course she is. I told you so earlier. You two have the same type of bleeding darkness in your mortal souls as Mum after all."

"It's, um, not like I don't believe you. It's just that this is kinda a shock and so we want a little confirmation." Bianca gulped a little, wringing her hands nervously.

"Yes, I am." Alkaid confirmed with a sigh. "And as Father decreed by dropping you off at my home, I'll be taking care of them from now onwards."

"Why can't he do it himself?" Nico asked, finally joining the conversation.

Alkaid shrugged her shoulders, "It wouldn't be safe to do so."

"He raised you." Bianca retorted, pointing an accusing finger her way. "Didn't he?"

"Mina told you that?"Alkaid asked, shooting her daughter a look.

"Shouldn't I?" The goddess of serial killers asked with an adorably cute tilt of her head.

Pyrrha chuckled as she reached over to fondly ruffle her hair, "You're lucky you're such a cutie, Mina."

Her daughter beamed up at her even as she fixed her hair, though from the tiny frown on 'Kaidy's face her lover wasn't too happy with what she must see as their daughter's double standard.

 _Gotta remember to get Mina to cuddle with 'Kaidy later. That should cheer her up._

"Back on topic," Alkaid said with a sip of her tea. "Yes, Father did raise me but the other gods aren't happy about it. He can't risk doing it again."

"Or what?"

"There'll be a war."

"Oh." Bianca said in a small voice.

 _Huh. She's quite smart if she can understand that so easily._ Pyrrha thought and with a glance at 'Kaidy, it was clear she agreed. She looked pleased to see that her sister at least, had enough wisdom to understand the consequences of things. It was a good thing honestly, you needed a good head on your shoulders for this world.

Bianca leaned back and seemed to ponder the issue. Her distraction seemed to galvanise Nico to step into the conversation.

"So this house is pretty grand, does this mean we're super rich?" Nico asked, excitedly.

"Nico!" His sister chided.

"More like 'Kaidy is stupid rich. Though your old man is known as the Rich One. So who knows, you guys might've stuff saved up somewhere. Maybe." Pyrrha commented dryly, before shaking her head and muttering under her breath. "Honestly that's your biggest concern? Kids these days."

"Right, uh, Pyrrha?" Bianca asked uncertainly and receiving a nod in confirmation. "So you're our, uh, sister-in-law?"

"Well, we aren't married-"

"Yet," Alkaid said sharply, which made a small smile come to Pyrrha's face. "And only because this war makes us too busy to plan a wedding. Blasted Titans ruining my scheduling. I wanted a spring wedding!"

Pyrrha blushed brilliantly at this but nodded shyly. _What can I say to_ that _!?_

"Oh," Bianca said fidgeting nervously. "So that's okay? I mean, nobody finds it weird?"

"Not anyone that matters." Alkaid said airily. "Same sex couples are quite accepted nowadays. Not common since we make up only a small percentage of the population but we're not considered strange. There is even a strong movement to grant us the right to get married at the federal level right now. So while there is still some discrimination for our sexual orientation, it's gotten a lot better."

"Huh? So we can't get married?" Pyrrha asked, disappointment lacing her voice alongside a burning sense of anger that swelled in her chest.

"We can get married in Massachusetts." 'Kaidy replied easily, "It's been legal there since 2004."

"Not that my Mamas need to be married to _act_ married." Mina said with a pout. "If we lived closer to our neighbors, they would complain about the noise."

"Mina, finish your homework." Pyrrha said sternly, earning a pout from their daughter. _Gods, is she still peeking on us?_

"I want siblings." The little girl goddess insisted.

"That's, uh, different?"

"Things have changed from before you entered the Lotus, Bianca." Her girlfriend informed the girl.

"So the Lotus made us time travel?" Nico asked with childish excitement. _Man, that was going to go away quick in the coming years._

"Not quite Nico," Alkaid informed him. "More like it took you out of time back whenever you walked into it-"

"1940 I think," Bianca helpfully chimed in while she rubbed her arms nervously.

Alkaid shot her a thankful nod before continuing. "In 1940 and then allowed you to reenter normal time now in 2007 when you exited it."

"Basically you were put in a freezer then taken out." Pyrrha dumbed down. "Like a really old popsicle."

Nico chuckled at the analogy but Bianca wrinkled her nose in slight disgust.

"That's so cool!" Nico said with childish enthusiasm. "So we're half god half mortal right? Does that mean that we have super powers like that?"

"Yes, though we'll leave it till you get to Camp for you to figure out what exact powers you inherited from Father. I like my manor intact."

"Camp? What's that?"

"Camp Half-Blood is where half-bloods like us go to get training to become heroes." Pyrrha told the di Angelos with a quirked lip.

Bianca seemed unsettled by the news if her frown was any indication while Nico's eyes practically glowed with delight as he bounced in his seat.

"Don't worry Bianca. I work there and will make sure both of you are safe." Alkaid reassured her, she was stupidly good at just saying the right thing. "Besides, not every Camper ends up a hero. If you feel like that's not your calling after you've finished your training, I'm more than happy to support you as you find your true calling."

"Yeah," Pyrrha said with a nod. "We'll be here for you. Even if you want to be a pastry chef or something."

"Mum is going to be a teacher!" Mina excitedly informed her aunt and uncle. "You can do whatever you want too!"

"Oh, okay." Bianca said thoughtfully. "Thank you Alkaid, Pyrrha."

Alkaid just waved the thanks away. "It's the least I can do for my siblings."

"Uncle Nico, what do you want to be?" Mina asked curiously.

"A hero, of course," the young boy declared enthusiastically. "I want a cool sword and all the other magical stuff heroes get in the stories!"

Bianca just sighed and shook her head.

"Don't worry, sister." Alkaid said with an amused smile. "He'll grow out of it."

"I won't." Nico insisted.

Bianca ignored her brother and nodded.

"Mamas! I'm hungry." Mina said suddenly, shooting to her feet and looking as adorable as always.

Pyrrha and Alkaid glanced at the clock. It _was_ roughly dinner time already.

"Alright, so what do we want?" Pyrrha asked with a smile for the two di Angelos.

"Italian." the two kids said on reflex.

"I should have guessed," Pyrrha said with a chuckle. "Pizza it is."

"Actually Missy Pyrrha," the house elf Pinky said as she popped in. "Wes have cooked dinner already. All Italian to welcomes Missy Bianca and Young Master Nico."

"Well done Pinky." Alkaid told the elf with a smile. "Then let's go for dinner shall we? We can sort out anymore questions you have later."

"Okay, um, big sis?" Bianca asked hopefully.

Alkaid actually perked up at the title, much to Pyrrha's amusement. The daughter of Ares knew that she had never been called that before. She had always been the 'baby' of the family, especially since the family were all immortals. Thus it must have been immensely refreshing for her to be referred to as such.

"But Bianca, aren't we older than Alkaid?" Nico asked, looking adorably confused. "I mean we were born in the 1920s and-"

"No. She's our big sister. That's final." Bianca says sternly.

Gulping, Nico nodded.

Looking on, the Potters just grinned in amusement at the di Angelos' interactions as they gently guided the two siblings to their dining room where dinner awaited.

* * *

The next day, which rather conveniently was a Saturday, Alkaid and Pyrrha decided it was time to take the di Angelos to Camp. Mina, of course, had tagged along.

The moment that the Potter family had stepped out of the green flames of the central hearth, Mina happily grabbed hold of her young aunt and uncle and dragged them off loudly declaring that she was giving them a tour of Camp.

"Your daughter is as excitable as always, Alkaid," Aunt Hestia said with a giggle from her place next to the fire pit.

"She's irrepressible." Alkaid agreed, even as Pyrrha gave the eldest of the elder gods a more formal greeting. "Are you here to meet my new siblings, Lady Hestia?"

"To sneak a look, as you young folk say," the goddess of family said in a stereotypical old lady's voice before bursting into another fit of child-like giggles.

Alkaid and Pyrrha both shared in her mirth for a moment.

"You two should run along," the goddess in the shape of a child said as she calmed down. "I'm sure you don't want to leave the children unsupervised for too long."

"Of course, Lady Hestia," Alkaid replied with a polite bow that Pyrrha copied. "We'll get going then."

The goddess waved them along even as she returned her attention to the hearth.

"I'll go follow them," the daughter of Hades said as she turned to her lover and gestured to the large bag slung over her shoulder. "You go help them set up in Cabin 11?"

"Right," Pyrrha said with a nod. "See you in a bit."

Alkaid just smiled in reply and the couple split off for now.

She caught up with the children by the canoeing lake where her two siblings were trying to give it a wide berth even as Mina eagerly described the myriad of activities that Campers carried out on the lake.

"It's not that bad," Alkaid informed the younger children of Hades. "The water, I mean. Uncle Poseidon is pretty chill about us so he won't hurt us or anything and water activities can be quite fun."

"We'll, uh, take your word for it." Bianca replied hesitantly, still eying the lake warily.

"Now, it's the sky you have to worry about. No flying, no pegasus rides either. Not that they'd let you near them. The equine jerks are a pretty stuck up bunch, even if Uncle Poseidon allows us to ride them they just refuse saying _they_ don't like us."

"It's cause Mum smells like death." Mina giggled at the sorceress.

"So we should stay away from the stables?" Nico asked with a disappointed pout.

"Not really, go bug them all you want. Serves them right."

"That's mean," Bianca noted with a chuckle.

"Mum's right," Mina insisted. "They were mean first so it's totally alright to be mean back."

"So two wrongs make a right?" Nico cocked his head to the side.

"In this world? Pretty much. At least when it comes to divinity." Alkaid shrugged and pointed off to the distance, "Let's go take a look at the strawberry fields. I'm sure we can sneak one or two if we're sneaky."

Cutting back through the Cabin area, where the di Angelos got quite curious at the large crowd that had gathered at Cabin 11, they eventually reached the strawberry fields next to the Big House. It was mid-morning by this point so most of the gardening was done, but a handful of satyrs and dryads were still wandering the fields checking on the health of the crops.

"Now, a good thing to know is that we have no green thumb whatsoever." Alkaid instructed the two. "In fact, you could say we have black thumbs. Except for our Stepmother, Persephone."

"Yes, you children of Hades have quite the adverse effect on plants, Miss Potter," a stocky satyr said as he canted over. "So can I take it that these two young'uns are your siblings?"

"Yes Stanley." Alkaid politely replied. "These are Bianca and Nico di Angelo. Say hello."

"Hello Mr. Stanley," all three children, even Mina, said with a smile.

"So uh, Lord Hades broke the oath again?" The satyr asked nervously.

"Not quite. More of a technicality. Let all those gossiping dryads know that."

"A technicality?"

"Grandpa used the Lotus as a time travel fridge thingy." Mina explained helpfully.

"Ah!" Stanley nodded as if that explained everything.

"Oh, oh!" Mina jumped up and down in excitement, "Mum, can we see the lava wall next? Maybe someone's burning alive!"

"Sure, but before that," Alkaid said with a indulgent smile towards her daughter before turning to Stanley. "Any chance we could have some freshly picked strawberries?"

"Not on my watch!" The satyr said proudly, even as he tossed a freshly packed bag of the fruits at Mina who happily caught it.

"Thanks Mr. Stanley." The goddess of serial killers said as she tore the bag open and began snacking. She offered some to the di Angelos but they were a little distracted.

"Lava wall?" Bianca asked, her face ashen, ignoring the conversation with the satyr.

In contrast her brother had an excited gleam in his eyes at the prospect.

"Nico," She warned, which seemed to be a reflex from what Alkaid figured.

"It's not as bad as Mina makes it sound," Alkaid assured her siblings as she guided them towards the Climbing Wall and absently waving goodbye to Stanley. "It's actually just Camp's Climbing Wall."

"So there's no lava?" Nico asked sounding almost disappointed even as Bianca sighed in relief.

"Oh no, there is lava." Alkaid insisted. "And you do get hurt if you can't avoid it. But that's almost never happened."

"You can hear them screaming until they don't have bones." Mina grinned wickedly, her greenish yellow eyes shimmering with deadly delight.

"Almost never happened?" Bianca said as her face blanched. "That means it's happened before?"

"Once or twice a year when newbies climb the wall, but nothing serious. Chiron and Cabin 7 had them all healed up in no time at all." Alkaid reassured the di Angelos, though neither seemed all that calmed. With even Nico now looking a little hesitant.

"Don't worry uncle, auntie, you can have your bones grown back. Skin too!"

The younger children of Hades just paled even more at Mina's little encouraging observation. A look that Alkaid found quite fitting on her siblings. She imagined it would match how they'd end up looking once they fully came into their powers and the olive tan they'd inherited from their mother faded. It was a little bit of a shame, since the prospect of a child of Hades with a tan of any kind was quite something but Alkaid knew it was a pipe dream. All children of Hades had pale skin that resisted a tan. Melinoe had tried, and despite being a goddess had only ended up with it sticking for a couple hours before it faded. It was, to the daughters of Hades, one of the biggest drawbacks to their paternity.

Ugh, it made going to the beach a nightmare. Alkaid herself had tried once or twice and had only managed to waste her time. Melinoe had laughed at her for days too. Just the memory brought a frown to her face.

It was while she was sporting this look of displeasure that the sorceress arrived at the Climbing Wall, a fact that seemed to make her siblings even more wary.

Mina skipped to her side, giving her a sharp poke with a finger, breaking the young woman out of her memory. Her hand reached to pat her white locks, but Mina evaded it with a mischievous giggle.

"Alkiad," the bored but yet exasperated voice of Mr. D said from behind her as he ambled over. "What's this I hear from the dryads that your father's let loose a pair of new siblings of yours from the Lotus?"

"Ah, Mr. D." Alkaid smiled kindly at the unhappily sober god. He didn't seem too irritable today. He seemed to lighten up when Mina was around. Maybe it was their shared madness domain?

"This them?" The god of madness asked, gesturing at the di Angelos.

"Indeed," Alkaid said, putting reassuring hands on each of her siblings' shoulders, "Nico, Bianca, this is Mr. D or Dionysus, the god of wine and the minder here. Be sure to be respectful or you'll be turned into a squirrel."

"And then run over with my SUV." Mr. D said with a demented smile, "So, Alkaid, mind telling me what your Father is thinking having these out of timers running around _now_? He must know that this makes them potentials for being the subject of the Great Prophecy, correct?"

"With me too old and the irritable porcupine out of her tree, I'm assuming Father is thinking that it would be safer for him to have a couple horses in the race too."

The god of wine groaned, rolling his bloodshot eyes. "By Gaia's teat, those three should just whip them out."

"Whip what?" Nico blinked in confusion.

Bianca's face, however, was a faint red with a curious mixture of green.

Alkaid just smiled at the god's crude language. "Yes, it might save the rest of us some trouble wouldn't it?"

The sound of distant thunder reminded her that despite appearances they had a much larger audience than was immediately apparent.

"Blah blah blah, you know she's right." Mr. D snorted and looked at Alkaid, "Least be grateful it isn't you. It'd get boring if one of the brats I tolerate got hit by a stray bolt or twenty."

"Thank you for the bolt of confidence," Alkaid joked.

Mr. D chuckled at the lame joke and turned around to walk back to the Big House.

"You're getting better," the god shot over his shoulder. "Still lame, but better. You'll develop a sense of humor yet. In the meantime, go finish settling Nick and Betty in."

"Nico and Bianca," Alkaid corrected playfully, knowing the god knew and didn't care.

True to form he ignored her and just kept walking without replying.

"It's a game to him, making up silly names for you mortals." Mina told Alkaid's siblings. "I help him once in a while with really _really_ stupid ones."

"Stupid names?"

"No, with silly names for the most stupid mortals."

The di Angelos just exchanged a indecipherable look and nodded.

"Un, Big Sis," Bianca said hesitantly. Though Alkaid could pick up some excitement as she said the name. "Could we take a break?"

Before the older daughter of the Underworld could reply, her daughter chimed in.

"Mum," her adorable murderer of a daughter singsonged. "Auntie Bianca and Uncle Nico are tired. Which cabin are they staying in?"

"Cabin 11, of course." Mr. D said shouted from halfway back to the Big House. "That's where all the Campers whose parents don't have cabins sleep, isn't it? So no sneaking them into your room! It's bad enough that Pepper spends almost every night you two are here with you making you scream! I don't need rugrats running around too."

Alkaid blushed, but only just a little. Her very healthy sex life was pretty much a known quantity in Camp, so she wasn't too embarrassed by it. The di Angelos didn't agree though and were blushing brilliantly.

"Understood, Mr. D," Alkaid shouted back. "I'll show them to Cabin 11 now."

The god made no reply, but the sorceress took that as the dismissal it was and turned back to her siblings who were exchanging nervous looks.

"But isn't that place like super crowded?" Bianca asked looking uneasy. "We walked past it earlier and it looked _very_ full."

"It is, but I have a workaround to _that_ problem." Alkaid said with a smile. "Come on, Pyrrha should be done helping you guys set it up by now."

"Set up what?"

"You'll see, Uncle Nico." Mina reassured him. "It'll be cool!"

The di Angelos exchanged another look but shrugged and followed after their big sister and niece as they headed to Cabin 11.

From the Climbing Wall, it was a short walk pass the Dining Pavilion, which Mina pointed out to the di Angelos, till they reached the Cabin area and specifically Cabin 11. They arrived to find it as crowded as they had last seen it but walking in they spotted a notable change from the norm. In a corner there was now a small tent sent up with Pyrrha standing next to it with her wand out casting a few spells.

"Not done?" Alkaid asked as she walked over.

"Just finishing up the set up for the cable." Pyrrha said as she put her wand away with a satisfied grin. "It was on the fritz a bit when I did it the first time."

Alkaid nodded.

"Cable?" Connor Stoll exclaimed in shock from where he stood among a crowd of his gawking cabinmates. "That thing has cable!?"

"There's a fully furnished apartment in there," Alkaid informed him. "Of course there's cable."

"We will do whatever you want for the next twenty flag games if we can get one of those. Run interference, play distraction, you name it, Pyrrha!" Travis begged.

"You'll have to pay real money if you want this," Alkaid said coldly. "This tent cost me a pretty penny. Pay me for it and I'll happily supply you any tent you want."

"Travis, to the ledgers!" Connor announced as he scurried away.

A lot of campers in cabin 11 were running to find what money they could scrounge up.

"Man, you find business everywhere." Pyrrha said, shaking her head in amusement at her smirking girlfriend.

"I am my Father's daughter after all."

Bianca opened the flap to her new home away from, well, home and revealed a hallway that led into a luxurious living room instead of the empty tent she was probably expecting. A sight that caused the whole of Cabin 11 to ohh and ahh in jealous want even while they continued trying to search for enough cash to buy their own.

"I want to learn magic so much right now." Bianca muttered as she stood there looking at the tent in awe.

"Don't worry," Alkaid reassured her. "I'll teach you. Nico too."

"I'm fine, thanks." Nico said sounding a little overwhelmed. "I think I'm more of a sword and shield kinda guy."

"A kid after my own heart." Pyrrha laughed.

Alkaid offered her lover an affectionate shake of her head, before loudly clearing her throat to get all of Cabin 11's attention. Much to her pleasure, they all dutifully turned to her.

"Now I know a few of the more sticky fingered children of Hermes might be thinking of nicking the tent from _my_ siblings," Alkaid said with a pleasant smile, which was anything but to the rambunctious campers. "But let me just remind you that I _am_ both Assistant Activities Director _and_ a master sorceress. Attempt to steal it at your own peril."

With her piece said and one last terrifying smirk at the occupants of Cabin 11, Alkaid turned to her paler than usual siblings and ushered them into their new tent. It was time to show them around.

* * *

 **Done and done, thanks to the team of Nameless and Axios!**

 **Alkaid, you sappy girl you, you just wanted lil siblings to spoil. Still, can't blame her. Being the baby all her life? I think she's going to love having Nico and Bianca around!**

 **Nameless: So Alkaid is a Big Sis now. And boy does she really like to be called that. It's a role she's never had the chance to experience and so is happy to do so now that she does. And she'll get plenty of it too, since Bianca especially is loving the idea of having someone else being the responsible one in her family. That's not to say she's going to do a heel turn and let Alkaid make all her decisions for her from now onward. E4E and I discussed this and we concluded, despite her new sense of freedom she can't unlearn everything she's developed since her mother died overnight. Thus she'll still be a responsible person devoted to taking care of Nico, just less stressed about it. And definitely less prone to making reckless decisions than in canon.**

 **Of course, giving her sibs a comfy tent to sleep in is a bonus for the kids. And a new source of revenue for Alkaid. Wheeler and dealer that one is. Still, I think Bianca is the one we're going to have the most fun with since she didn't get a chance to blossom in the series much. I'm stoked for the chance to write her out more like we have done with Andi!**

 **Nameless: And Nico. But there's no significant changes form his canon characterisation at least in comparison to the same relative point in the stories. Though as I'm sure most can tell by now, he definitely won't be quite the same Ghost King. Having an actual family to love and support him changes things. A lot.**

 **Yeah, he's got more of a support system now and an actual teacher, not some ghost looking for a leg up in the world.**

 **You know what to do! Smash that review button and tell us what you love! No flames and peace off my peeps!**


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson or Harry Potter.**

 **Consul of the Underworld: Grinding Phase**

 **Chapter Eighteen: Double Quest, Double Danger**

 **Beta: ShadowofAxios**

* * *

Alkaid and Pyrrha arrived to Camp in the late evening in December to find that it had visitors. While they were away during the day, the Hunters of Artemis had shown up. These maiden warriors of the Goddess of the Hunt occasionally stopped by Camp when they were in the area and sometimes engaged in Camp activities.

This time was no exception and fortuitously they had arrived on the day for Capture the Flag. Hence, as was tradition, they were taking on the whole Camp in the game. Pyrrha had been itching to join, but since they had arrived only as the Campers were already set up in the play area Mr. D had insisted she sit out.

As such, the whole Potter family was watching the game from the Big House with Mr. D instead. The god had conjured a bunch of computer monitors to display the Hephaestus TV broadcast of the event. Each monitor displaying the image of one group of participants or other.

"Wow," Pyrrha said sounding impressed as she looked at the elaborate set up. "I didn't know Capture the Flag was even covered on Hephaestus TV."

"It's quite the spectacular actually," Alkaid said. "There's multiple versions of the broadcast. This is the highest tier one with the split screens and a whole host of stuff."

"Did you think I would go for anything less than the best?" Mr. D said from where he was lounging on a daybed and sipping from a can of Diet Coke. "I might not think this is all that, but that's no reason to skimp on the amenities."

"Mum, did you watch this often as a little girl?" Mina asked curiously as she got comfortable on a comfy looking sofa.

"Not often," Alkaid said with a shake of her head. "Though I did tune in once in a while when there was nothing else good on."

"Explains why you didn't know who I was before we met," Pyrrha said with an amused snort as she settled on the sofa to the right of Mina. "Betcha that wasn't very often."

"That's true," Alkaid admitted as she sat down to Mina's left. "I'm not a TV person overall."

"Mum, Mama, shush! The game's started." Mina insisted even as she snuggled into her parents'.

"And let the humiliation begin." Mr. D with a low cackle as he rubbed his hands in demented glee.

"I know the Hunters are tough, but it can't be _that_ bad." Pyrrha insisted.

"Ha! You brats haven't won yet. Not in the hundreds of years we've been here and started this game. I think it was fifty to nothing?"

Pyrrha boggled at the thought of such an uneven score.

Alkaid pinched her nose, "I think there's a reason for that."

"Silly Campers," Mina said with a sagely nod of her head. Or what she thought was one anyways, in truth it just came across as adorable. "They think a few years training will make them as good as a bunch of immortal warriors who've hunted monsters for a long time."

"Exactly," Alkaid said with a nod. "Some of the Hunters are as old as Ancient Greece itself. Against someone with that much experience, the Campers are just woefully outclassed."

"But you could squish them, right Mum?" Mina asked, murderous delight in her eyes.

"The Hunters are notorious for being useless against magicians," Mr. D said chiming in. "Why do you think they stick to monsters? So almost certainly. Even Artemis is pretty bad at dealing with them."

"There's gotta be more than that?"

"Of course." Mr. D scoffed as he sipped from his diet coke. "They also hunt monsters because while Artemis won't admit it, she's as fashion obsessed as any other woman and is always in need of a new fur coat to expand her wardrobe."

"Really?" Mina asked curiously.

"Yes, anyone who visits her temple on Olympus will know that. Half the damn thing is a giant walk-in wardrobe."

"Let's set aside Artemis' hoarder tendencies for now," Alkaid said gesturing to one of the monitors which was showing a group of Campers about to walk into a ambush set up by the Hunters. "The action's started."

"Finally," Mr. D said with an irritated grunt.

The Campers were cautiously slinking their way through the undergrowth when suddenly a rain of arrows descended upon them from the trees and a trio of Hunters jumped down into their midst with their knives drawn and started slashing at the surprised demigods. The handful of Ares and Athena Campers in the group tried to assert some semblance of order by shouting orders, but what they were saying kept contradicting each other and just created more confusion among their allies. It also served to single them out as potential leaders and led to the Hunters taking them out first. Within under two minutes, the two dozen or so Campers were completely wiped out by a force that was revealed to be little more than a half dozen Hunters.

Pyrrha just covered her face at the display her siblings being handed their asses so easily, "Ugh, they deserve every broken bone. Come on, at least fight as a unit!"

"Mm," Alkaid responded disinterestedly, keeping her eyes on both Percy and Thalia's performance instead. Thalia was leading a small group of campers to search for the Hunters flag only to be caught up in some kind of woodland magic that Artemis' chosen had set up and had her group walking in circles hopelessly lost all whilst triggering trap after trap that had been laid out to welcome them.

Percy who Annabeth had called back from home just to, in the girl's own words, "save us from _another_ humiliating loss" was doing much better in his role as defender. He was living up to his girlfriend's hopes admirably. The Hunters kept harassing him, trying to lure him away from the Camper's flag. But acting on Annabeth's instructions, he was holding firm to his spot and tallying up quite a few knocked out Hunters to his credit. Thanks in no small part to Hephaestus Cabin rigging up a powerful heater next to the flag that had melted a whole patch of snow and given him a ton of water to work with.

 _Hm, note to self, see if Percy can change snow and ice to water. Or manipulate them in general. It doesn't seem like it, but it's still worth a shot to try._

"Oh, oh! Mum, look! Auntie Bianca is doing shadow-y stuff." Mina gasped and tugged at Alkaid's sweater.

Turning her emerald eyes to another screen, Alkaid could see Bianca sneaking around wrapped in shadows to become invisible. Her sister had certainly taken to the shadows much easier than the other power sets typically available to children of Hades. That along with being pretty quick with a dagger made her perfect for the stealthy assassin that the Italian girl was trying to be.

Unfortunately for Alkaid's younger sister, she seemed to have forgotten that sight wasn't the only sense which others could use to detect her. As such, she was sneaking up on a seemingly unaware Hunter when suddenly the older girl spun around and lashed out with her hunting knife. She managed to parry the first swipe, but that just served to give her position away and open her guard. With a swing of her other knife, the Hunter easily dealt Bianca a blow to the head that knocked her out.

Having received only a little more than a month of training Bianca had stood no realistic chance but Alkaid nevertheless winced at the way her sister crumpled to the ground and memorized the Hunter's face for… future reference.

"'Kaidy, your bloodlust is showing." Pyrrha dryly informed her.

"Oh," Alkaid looked embarrassed, "How unbecoming of me."

"It's a good thing," Mr. D chimed in. "The Hunters are too full of themselves. You showing them up later for hitting your sister will teach them a much needed lesson in humility."

"I'll be sure to come up with something ironic and vicious." Alkaid told the god with sharp smile.

"Uh, 'Kaidy, did you teach Nico some necromancy?"

"A litte, why?"

"'Cause I think he's rocking the whole undead king thing a little too much." Pyrrha grumbled with crossed arms.

On screen, Nico was commanding a small squad of skeletal redcoats as they formed up in a perfect square formation and blasted away with their rifles in a near continuous barrage that was keeping at least a dozen Hunters pinned. Unfortunately, it was also keeping three squads of Campers likewise stuck behind cover.

"Hey, hey! He's doing your fear thing. Malcolm wouldn't be cowering like that from just this." Pyrrha noted as she pointed to a panicked looking son of Athena. "Ugh, you children of Hades are so hax."

Alkaid was glad she had recommend him to hang out with some of Cabin 6. Hopefully some strategic knowledge will brush off on him more. Now if only he understood the concept of _friendly_ fire. Maybe she shouldn't have given Nico the Resurrection Stone to boost his necromancy.

The creaking of a stair interrupted the family's viewing of the game and had them all spinning around to identify its source.

"What was that?" Pyrrha asked, her hand itching for her labrys.

"It came from the attic." Mr. D noted ominously as he stood, tossing his Diet Coke can into the trash can, showing a rarely seen seriousness as he did.

"But the only thing in the attic is-"

"-the Oracle." Alkaid finished for her lover, biting back a growl.

"Mum, Mama, Mr. D, the mummy is walking to the forest." Mina singsonged while pointing out a nearby window.

"Shit, what happened to make it go _looking_ for questers?" Pyrrha flashed a nervous look to Alkaid.

"I don't know, Penelope." Mr. D said, his whole body tense. "But we _need_ to find out."

* * *

Zoë Nightshade, Lieutenant of Artemis, was having quite the fun time in this little game of Capture the Flag she and her fellow Hunters of Artemis were playing with the Campers of Camp Half-Blood. They would win of course, but unlike the last few times she and her sisters had played this game, it was proving to be a challenge.

Objectively, she knew this was because the Campers had for the first time in half a century counted amongst their ranks children of the Big Three and particularly talented individuals at that. Even if they were _boys_. She might not like them for their sex, but she could appreciate their skill. Both the son of Poseidon and the son of Hades, were proving quite difficult to overcome.

Though the younger boy seemed too trigger happy, literally.

Now if only the girls hadn't been such disappointments. From her perch in the canopy of one of the taller trees in the forest she'd seen the daughter of Zeus bullrush right into the magical trap her sisters had set up and stubbornly refused to turn around even when it became clear it was a trap. It was typical of a child of the lord of the skies, but nevertheless was a sight that brought a sigh to her lips.

The daughter of Hades used the shadows decently, though her stealth skills needed a great deal more refinement. At least if she intended to pit it against a trained Hunter. The girl had potential, Zoë could see that, but it would likely take years to master the skills of the assassin that she appeared to be training to be.

At least the sorceress wasn't in the game. She would have made victory truly difficult. Thankfully staff couldn't participate in such an event. Though, Zoë wasn't afraid to admit such a rare challenge would be nothing short of a thrill. The last great sorceress she was pitted against was back in Ancient Greece.

Her ponderings were interrupted though when her arboreal perch was suddenly shaken violently. Leaping out of the tree and onto another, she caught sight of her 'attacker'. It was the mummified corpse that was the current host for the Pythia.

"What?" The immortal maiden gasped out in shock.

"Stop the match!" Chiron, the trainer of heroes, shouted as he galloped up with the insane speed of his kind to stand beside the oracle which even now was staring at Zoë unerringly. "Stop the match!"

His voice carried across the whole forest and moments later the sound of fighting everywhere disappeared. It was replaced by a murmur of confusion as everyone could tell that neither side had won yet.

"Zoë, come down." The centaur urged. "It's obvious the prophecy is for you."

As she did she spotted the sorceress, Alkaid Potter, was walking over with her family and even Dionysus in tow. The Hunter's eyes were focused on the spellcaster though for she was directing a murderous visage towards the Oracle. Magic wafted from her fingertips until her paramour, the daughter of Ares, seemed to calm her down with a few words.

With the dangerous mage calm for the moment, Zoë steeled her nerves and turned to look at the gaunt face of the Oracle even as an anxious bolt ran down her spine. A prophecy, when was the last she was given one? By the gods, Zoë honestly felt her centuries catching up to her as she felt rooted in place as the Oracle recognizing that she finally had her attention began to float in the air and delivered her riddle.

"Five shall go west to the goddess in chains,

One shall be lost in the land without rain,

The bane of Olympus shows the trail,

Campers and Hunters combined prevail,

The Titan's curse must one withstand,

And one shall perish by a parent's hand."

With her message complete, the mummy turned around and staggered back to the Big House leaving behind a confused and wary bunch of Hunters, Campers and gods.

* * *

After the Oracle mummy's rather dramatic rendition of the latest prophecy, Camp's staff, Head Counselors, and the Hunters' lieutenant met in the Big House to discuss how to proceed. All around the Ping Pong table, which was scattered with junk food that Chiron had arranged to be delivered to serve as snacks, they all stood nervously fidgeting and waiting for the meeting to begin. The food, usually greedily devoured during such meetings was being left largely untouched today as the participants had mostly lost their appetite in the face of the unprecedented turn of events.

"We must depart immediately." Zoë declared sternly, "The Hunters shall pack and depart West."

"You would defy the prophecy Nightshade?" Mr. D asked warningly.

"Of course not, Lord Dionysus," The Elder Hunter cowed her zeal before the god. "Forgiveness, my worry for Lady Artemis weighs heavily upon me."

"You should know better nymph," the god of madness hissed, his eyes ablaze with violet flames. "You tempt the Fates by seeking to defy the prophecy. It has decreed that five Campers and Hunters will rescue Artemis and so it shall be."

 _What's his angle?_ Alkaid thought suspiciously. _He's not usually so concerned with things like this. Normally, he'd much rather watch us all fall on our faces, laughing at our suffering all the while._

"Miss Nightshade," Chiron cut in, "Perhaps a compromise. Two Hunters, two Campers, and a satyr guide? We all wish for the safety of Lady Artemis. This lineup would both ensure the highest likelihood of success while meeting the terms of the prophecy."

"Indeed, Chiron. That will suffice. Who would thou recommend? I have not kept an ear of thy Campers' abilities and only managed glimpses during the Game earlier."

"By strength alone Percy and Grace are your best picks," Alkaid suggested, ignoring the by now familiar glare the daughter of Zeus sent her way for the use of her surname. Bad blood with her mother or not, the girl's reluctance to identify with her own name was downright childish.

 _If you dislike it so much_ girl _then go make it your own! Stop being all petty about it and a brat at every mention of it._

Mr. D snorted, "Modest much, girl?"

"I'm not a Camper," Alkaid pointed out. "As you said let's not tempt the Fates."

"How droll."

Zoë looked at Grace and frowned with a sigh, "Very well, the child of Zeus may come. Though the son of Poseidon will stay. Another girl will travel with us."

"What I'm not good enough just because I'm a boy?" Percy said, his eyes narrowed and his features forebodingly dark. "Sexist much?"

Alkaid permitted herself a slight chuckle. Leave it to Percy to lighten the mood, at least in her mind, with a barb. Most of the meeting's participants weren't so amused though. In fact, every Head Counselor shared the same look of anger their peer from Cabin Three was directing at the Hunter. This though didn't seem to faze the ancient woman in the slightest.

"It is not that," The nymph backtracked. "I trust the sorceress Alkaid's judge of your ability. Even if I have not seen proof to substantiate it fully yet. That said, we Hunters do not work well with men. Too many of our number have unpleasant histories with them. As such, I cannot risk taking one along on a quest. Especially one as important as the rescue of my lady!"

"Just let it go, Percy." Chase told him calmly.

"Yeah, you'd have a better chance getting a monster to have a meal with you then getting the Hunters to work with a boy." Grace scoffed.

"Besides the son of Poseidon, who would thou recommend sorceress, Trainer of Heroes?" Zoë asked as she leveled a small glare at the child of Zeus. "I would defer to your superior knowledge of your charges."

Alkaid exchanged a look with Chiron and he nodded towards the blonde head of Cabin Six. The daughter of Hades frowned slightly at this. While Annabeth definitely was a more than capable addition to any band of questers, this was a quest that would very likely lead to a confrontation with Luke Castellan and the sorceress had her doubts the younger girl could handle that.

When it came to the son of Hermes, Chase was as subtle as a blushing maiden. Alkaid paused, Nightshade's old English, or her mangled version of it at least, was rubbing off on her. Curse her love for old literature.

Nevertheless Alkaid couldn't really think of any other female Camper she'd recommend. Certainly not Pyrrha, she would never let her lover go on a quest without her, something that she was sure the daughter of war would wholeheartedly agree with. Sending the head of Aphrodite Cabin would be like mixing blood and oil if she quested with the Hunters. As for the rest of the female Campers… Well, sad to say, none of them were really skilled enough for the task.

"Reluctantly, I put forward Chase as my recommendation."

"Reluctantly?" Zoë asked, cautiously.

"The girl's got a huge ass crush on Luke Castellan." Pyrrha informed the Hunter. "If she goes, you'll need to be careful."

"I wouldn't compromise a quest!" Chase snapped in outrage, her face red as a tomato. Though whether that was from anger or embarrassment Alkaid couldn't be certain.

"Methinks the lady doth protest too much." Alkaid retorted. She blinked and sent a dry look to Nightshade accusingly.

The nymph had the good grace to shoot her an apologetic smile even as Silena Beauregard, Head Counselor of Aphrodite's Cabin chimed in with her own two cents.

"While I don't trust the Hunters as far as I could throw them-"

"Tis not far." Nightshade chimed in.

"-I would have to agree on Annabeth's feelings for Luke." Silena said as she shot a dirty glare at the Hunter. "She is _still_ crushing on Luke, though I can't say why, but she'll keep her head. For the most part."

There were murmurs of agreement at the daughter of love's observation from most of the Head Counselors.

"Gods, what is this, the gossip corner?" Charles "Charlie" Beckendorf, Head Counselor of Cabin Nine, objected as he pinched his nose in exasperation. "Can we focus on the facts here? Will her feelings cause her to screw things up or not? Silena?"

The honey blonde daughter of Athena looked like she wanted to sink in a hole and die.

"Ninety percent sure she'll keep her cool." Selina shrugged. "Give or take of course."

"Then I say we let her go," Travis Stoll, co-head of Cabin Eleven, opined along with a nod from his brother Conner. "If Alkaid's out, Pyrrha's out. They're a team and even we're not stupid enough to split that up. Which sucks, but we gotta live with it. And if we do, then Annabeth's our next best choice."

"Why do I sound like chopped liver?" Annabeth asked looking at the older Stoll brother with a glare.

Travis sent her a dry look, "Magical Tactical Nuke that spits money. What do you have on that?"

"Enough," Zoë said cutting into the derailing conversation. "If that is the consensus from the Camp's staff then I will take the daughter of Athena on this quest."

"That leaves your satyr guide and your other Hunter." Alkaid asked, "I won't make any aspersions on your choice of Hunter but would you be willing to accept a recommendation on your guide?"

Before the Hunter could reply, Grace jumped in.

"Grover," the daughter of Zeus said hastily. "You've gotta take Grover. No one else is as brave or capable as he is."

Alkaid cocked a brow, "He doesn't have the greatest track record. Not to mention his Empathic Link to Percy puts him in as much danger as Grover. A risk I'm very uncomfortable taking. Plus, satyrs are relatively squishy."

"I have to agree with Alkaid here, Thalia," Pollux said, sounding apologetic that he needed to point this out. "Grover is hardly the best satyr around."

"He need not be," Zoë said, much to everyone's surprise. "I'd rather have a familiar face than one that is capable but wholly new to us. If Grace knows and trusts this satyr-"

"I do too!" Annabeth said in hasty support of her friend.

"Fine, but he should be guarded. If he dies then Percy either dies as well or sinks into a vegetative state. We can't afford to risk losing a big player in the coming war like that." The child of the Rich One stated sternly to the Hunter.

"If Lady Artemis remains chained, then we have lost already." The Hunter countered. "But I see thy point, the satyr's empathy link is a weakness. Has attempts been made to abolish it?"

"Yes," Alkaid said with a tired sigh. "Neither truly wants to do so though, as such it remains."

Percy scowled, crossing his arms. Alkaid sent him a look of understanding and he lightened his scowl a touch. It was a touchy subject. As with everything to do with his sense of loyalty, Alkaid found it to be somewhat of a liability at times.

 _Make that all the time._ Alkaid thought with a sigh. _Why couldn't he have a simpler Fatal Flaw, like, I dunno, the need to crush those who you hold a grudge against as brutally and swiftly as you possibly can? Now,_ that _I would totally know how to handle._

After all, doing so was as easy as breathing to the child of Hades.

"Then all is settled." Zoë said with finality. "I will take Thalia Grace, Annabeth Chase and their satyr friend Grover along with Phoebe and I on the quest."

Turning to the two girls, the Hunter continued. "Go inform your friend and make your preparations. We leave at Lord Apollo's first light."

With that and one last respectful nod to Mr. D, the lieutenant of Artemis walked out of the meeting room.

"Gods she is so uptight," Pyrrha groaned, making Alkaid crack a smile at her.

"It is a product of her times. And she _is_ trying." Chiron said with a sigh. "But that's enough talk about Miss Nightshade. It's getting late so why don't all of you head to bed."

It _was_ getting quite late. Late enough that Alkaid and Pyrrha had long since sent Mina home for her bedtime, even with the timezone difference. Add the late hour to the aborted Capture the Flag game and the Campers were all exhausted. So it was no surprise that they all quickly began filing out to head back to their Cabins.

"Indeed, we should all rest up while our questers prepare for tomorrow." Alkaid nodded to Chiron as she addressed the departing teenagers. "I'll prepare some essentials so we can hand them off to the questers in the morning."

"Leave that to the dryads and satyrs." Mr. D said as he looked intently at the daughter of the Underworld. "I need to speak to you. Peter and Pamela too."

"Of course." Alkaid nodded, a neutral look on her face.

"Mr. D?" Chiron asked, sounding worried. "Do you know something that I should as well?"

"Go tuck in the Campers, Chiron. This is just business as usual." Mr. D said with a shooing motion with his hands.

The centaur frowned but obeyed, trotting off to make sure the counselors headed to bed and to oversee the preparation of the supplies for the questers departing tomorrow.

Mr. D waited until he was alone with the three people he'd requested before he spoke.

"So Apollo called in a favor," the god of madness said shooting Alkaid a meaningful look. "I'm sure you can guess what he wants."

"He wants a _second_ quest to make sure things go well and Lady Artemis is rescued."

"Exactly," the god said with a sigh and pulled up a folded piece of paper that he handed over to Alkaid. "So here's his Prophecy."

Unfolding the scrap of paper that literally looked like it'd been ripped out of some random notebook, Alkaid eyed the letters written in gold ink and frowned.

 _Dreadful wintertime  
An imprisoned goddess saved  
Beyond the Rockies_

"This is a haiku," Alkaid said her right eyebrow twitching. "A bad haiku."

"Yes, it is." Mr. D agreed with a derisive snort. "One he came up with in a couple seconds when he dropped by to beg for you three to go on a completely separate quest that has _nothing at all_ to do with the one the others were going on."

"Lord Apollo's not one for being sneaky huh?" Pyrrha asked, sounding resigned as she took the note and read the haiku prophecy for herself. "So much for being god of the arts."

"Not all art are masterpieces." Alkaid defended her godly cousin half heartedly. "Though I think he was probably just a little too shaken up by Lady Artemis' capture to come up with something better."

"He was behaving like a right mess," Mr. D agreed. "I offered him a drink, but Father rumbled at me. Honestly, all I was trying to do was be nice."

"Uh, Mr. D, Alkaid, not to interrupt or anything but why am I here?" Percy asked, sounding at once hopeful and confused. "Does it mean I'm supposed to go on this second quest?"

"Ah, yes, Paul. I forget how forgettable you are." Mr. D nodded, "You are here since it's highly possible you will die on this quest which I would find hilarious. So you'll be a gentleman and escort these ladies cross state. Do keep your hormones in check, Phillip."

Percy blushed like the hormonal teenager he was at the image Mr. D had put in his head, causing Alkaid to chuckle at his expense.

"Percy, how bold you've gotten."

"H-Hey, come on!" Percy exclaimed, his cheeks brightening further.

"'Kaidy, stop teasing the poor kid." Pyrrha said with her own amused grin, causing Percy to look at her hopefully. "We can do that on the quest."

Percy slumped in dismay.

"Alright, if we are done tormenting Percy-"

"Never." Mr. D declared.

"-then we should all get some rest. Sweet dreams, Percy." Alkaid smirked as she walked away with a sway of her hips.

She ever so loved to tease. Mr. D's laughter behind her told her that she was doing a good job of it.

"You're a minx you know that, 'Kaidy?" Pyrrha said as she walked alongside her and chuckled. "That boy's gonna have wet dreams about you tonight, I'll bet a drachma on it."

The brunette just smirked wider.

* * *

The next day, having made preparations for their own quest overnight including the tedious task of calling up Baba Yaga to babysit Mina while they were away, Alkaid stood with her mortal family as they watched the larger group of Campers set out on their quest in Argus' delivery truck with Zoë at the wheel.

"I still say letting Zoë drive was a bad idea," Alkaid informed Chiron with a flinty glare. "You do realize she drives like a madwoman."

"She is also the only one in the whole group with _any_ skill at the wheel." The centaur countered. "And they need the advantage that the mobility of the truck will provide them."

"Why didn't I get a truck when I quested for the Master Bolt then?" Percy whined. "It would have come in handy."

"Did _any of you_ know how to drive?" Alkaid asked, her left eyebrow raised skeptically.

"No," the son of Poseidon admitted sheepishly.

"That's why," the sorceress informed him with finality. "A state trooper would have pulled you over in a heartbeat. Mist or no Mist. After this quest I'll teach you in my car."

"Percy," Pyrrha asked jabbing the boy in the side and causing him to jump. "You look exhausted. Did you get a good night's sleep?"

"Blackjack woke me up in the middle of the night." The son of Poseidon sighed, "The Hippocampi found a sea animal needing rescue. So I went and helped it out from the net it got caught in. Couldn't really get back to sleep after that."

"Geez, your Pegasus has the worst timing." Pyrrha grunted with annoyance.

"So do you have any other chores you need doing?" Alkaid teased.

"I don't think so?" Percy said uncertainly while looking to Chiron for confirmation.

"I think your duty to clean the stables can wait till you get back," the centaur said with a grin. "All that dirt isn't going anywhere."

Percy blanched, much to the three adults' amusement.

"I'm just joking with you, Percy." Chiron said after a good laugh and reached into a nearby bush to toss the boy a backpack. "Here, the naiads told me that you never finished packing last night so I asked some of the dryads to do so for you while the others set off."

"Thanks Chiron!" Percy said sincerely, slipping the pack onto his shoulders while Alkaid and Pyrrha followed his lead with their own matching rucksacks. "You're the best."

"Big Sister, you and Pyrrha are really leaving too?" Bianca asked as she walked over seeing them all still standing at the Camp border.

Smiling at her cute little sister, she pecked her forehead, "Yes. Duty calls. Lady Artemis isn't going to save herself after all. Plus, I know Cali like the back of my hand. Who best to keep the others out of trouble?"

"But isn't it dangerous?" Nico asked worriedly. "I mean there's all those monsters out there and everything."

"Don't ya worry, kiddo. I'll keep your Big Sister safe." Pyrrha reassured the di Angelos.

"I will too," Percy said with a confident grin as he drew his sword for emphasis. "Me and Riptide."

Nico looked suitably impressed by the fancy magical sword and the hero who wielded it, but Bianca still looked skeptical.

"Don't worry so much Sister," Alkaid said with a smile as she kneeled down to look the younger daughter of Hades in the eye. "I promise that I'll do everything in my power to come home safe and sound."

"But-"

"That's all I can do, Bianca." The older sister informed her. "Quests are dangerous and I don't want to make a promise I can't keep."

The di Angelo girl wasn't happy with the answer and looked on the verge of a tantrum, but Chiron put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Do not make it harder for you sister, Bianca." The ancient Trainer of Heroes whispered comfortingly. "It is hard enough to follow the call of duty even when all your heart wants is to stay at home with your loved ones. Do not demean your sister's resolve by trying to get her to stay when you know she cannot."

The young girl bit her lip at the wise words. It was an expression Alkaid recognised, having worn it many times in the past. Her sister was struggling with the knowledge that Chiron was correct, while being faced with an unwillingness to accept it. The di Angelo pushed through it though and managed a hesitant nod.

"We should be done by Christmas the latest. So be good for Chiron, alright?" Alkaid asked as she gave Bianca a tight hug. One that was readily returned and that Nico happily jumped into.

"Okay," Bianca said in a shaky whisper. "We'll see you then."

Alkaid just nodded, before with a final wave she grabbed hold of Pyrrha's arm and walked down Half-Blood Hill, Percy following behind them and tears in the corners of her eyes.

* * *

 **Done and done! Thanks to the team of Nameless and Axios as always!**

 **Yes, Alkaid did not play in Capture the Flag. It would just not be fair. Plus, she's staff, not a Camper. So thems the breaks.**

 **And yes, Annabeth is going on the quest so we know how well that's going to go with her feelings for Luke. It was fun to write that scene to mess with her, lolz. Now we aren't bashing Annie, but her issues with Luke** _ **do**_ **make her falter despite her usual smarts.**

 **Nameless: About the second quest… I honestly don't know why Riordan doesn't do it more often. It's clearly an option since later in the wars, multiple missions/quests are taking place concurrently. So since Apollo, if no other god, was frantic to see his twin rescued, we had him use this approach to push the odds of success in his favor. Last point on this topic, the haiku was auto generated via some website I found through Google so I take no ownership of its quality.**

 **Ha! It was great and so Apollo-like!**

 **So Bianca is worried for her big sis, for obvious reasons. Still, she needs to know the world is harsh and paradise may not last as much as we hope.**

 **Nameless: So some of you might not get why Bianca is so attached to Alkaid. If so, just ask yourself what Alkaid represents to Bianca? Freedom from being the responsible one in the family. This was something that in canon made her make the foolish leap into becoming a Hunter without even knowing what that meant. Here? Well that translates into a deep love for the person who embodies that freedom.**

 **You know what to do! Smash that review button and tell us what you love! No flames and peace off my peeps!**


	19. Chapter 19

**Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson or Harry Potter.**

 **Consul of the Underworld: Grinding Phase**

 **Chapter Nineteen: National Half-Blood Vacation: Saving the Solstice**

 **Beta: ShadowofAxios**

* * *

Along the highway to Washington, D.C., an upmarket RV drove down the road just like any other vehicle. However, this RV was extraordinary as it was the mobile base for no less than a band of demigods out questing for the gods of Olympus. At the moment, the de facto leader of this band and the one responsible for renting the motorhome, Alkaid, was thoroughly enjoying her foresight as she lounged on the couch of the living room section of the vehicle.

Pyrrha was manning the wheel, and following the directions to where Alkaid's tracking and scrying spells had indicated the other group of questers were. That is to say, the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.

Perhaps Shadow Travelling to their destination would have been faster, but jumping to their destination like that with no intel on what to expect and possibly jumping right into a battle or worse a trap was just foolish. Besides that, there was also the issue of having no clue, so far at least, of where their final destination would be. Taking all that into account, she and Pyrrha decided a mobile base would be for the best.

"Uh, I think if we keep going down this road, we should make it to D.C. pretty quick." Percy said unhelpfully as he tried to play navigator with a map even while munching on some snacks he'd pulled out of the mini bar.

"No shit Sherlock," Pyrrha snorted. "I can read the road signs."

"Sorry," Percy said with a apologetic shrug. "I've never actually been on a road trip before. Hitch-hiked on quests sometimes, but never actually, you know, did any of the navigating. At least not on land."

"Some travelling will do ya some good. Quests sometimes bring you to some pretty sweet places. I mean you got to go to the Underworld without dying, right?" The redhead chuckled.

"Uh, yeah, don't remind me." Percy said shifting nervously in his seat. "Annabeth is _still_ complaining about not getting a chance to play with Cerberus more."

"You just didn't go the tourist path. It's much nicer than what you saw, Percy." Pouting playfully, Alkaid retorted.

"Wait, there are tours?" Percy asked, turning around to look at her in surprise.

Alkaid snorted a giggle, "No."

Oh, he had such a cute pout.

"There goes my hopes for my afterlife." The son of Poseidon dryly commented.

"Seriously though," Pyrrha chimed in, giving him an out from his embarrassment. "You _really_ should learn to properly read a map. It can be pretty damned useful on a quest at times."

"Your magic school taught astrology or something right?"

"Astronomy," Alkaid corrected in her teacher tone. "But that's besides the point."

"Which is?"

"That learning to navigate is a useful skill." Pyrrha repeated, as Alkaid nodded in agreement.

"Fine," Percy said with a resigned sigh. "I'll sign up for a course when we get back to Camp. The satyrs run a couple right?"

"They do," Alkaid confirmed. As the Assistant Activities Director it was her duty to know what activities Camp had on offer. "And I'll hold you to that promise."

"Yeah, yeah," Percy replied with a put upon expression.

"Cheer up, Percy." Alkaid told him with a glowing smile. "You should embrace the opportunity. After all, the power of learning will get you far."

"So can I learn some magic on the side too?" Percy asked her curiously, "I mean, what you do is pretty awesome."

"Every demigod has a chance to learn magic, but some simply show more aptitude than others."

Pyrrha barked out a laugh, "Yeah! Tomato, to-nuclear warhead."

"That joke, Pyrrha dear, is getting old." Alkaid hissed. Always getting compared to a nuclear weapon was getting on her nerves.

"Never!" The daughter of war chuckled, "Plus, I find it sexy."

"Oh really?" Alkaid asked warningly. "Then I'm sure you won't mind if I-"

"Okay, okay, I give." Pyrrha hastily cut in. "Sheesh, you're feeling prickly."

"You try hearing that joke at least a dozen times a day and tell me you don't get tired of it."

"Can you guys stop flirting? I'm trying to read the map here." Percy tutted at them while shaking the map in the air.

Both women shot him an irritated look, though Pyrrha's was mercifully brief for the boy. Alkaid's was scary enough, if the way he fidgeted was any indication.

"Anyways, so I don't have much of a chance with magic?" The son of the sea asked.

"Probably not," the sorceress admitted. "A non-Hecate demigod's magical potential is tied a lot to the strength of the godly powers they inherited. Your godly powers are insanely strong, as such correspondingly your magical potential is weak."

"Bummer." Percy bemoaned. "But what does that say about you? I mean you're no slouch in the powers department."

"They're not that impressive either," Alkaid countered. "Not for a child of the Big Three. Plus when I do use them, I augment them _a lot_ with my magic. Toss me at an average monster. I can slay them with those alone. Against a true threat? I'm be hard pressed to win without a solid strategy or advantage."

"Admitting weakness, 'Kaidy? You must really like Percy."

Huffing, the sorceress turned her nose, "I trust my darling cousin. No need to be jealous, love."

For some reason, this exchange seemed to send Percy into a panic of sorts and he scrambled to find something to say. "U-Uh, so~, do you guys always quest in style like this? I mean if this is the kinda transport you guys use regularly, I want to quest with you two all the time."

"Welcome to the big leagues kid. Where we've got enough of a budget for creature comforts." Pyrrha told him with a grin.

"Budget? I thought it was because Alkaid was rich?"

Alkaid had the grace to blush, even as Pyrrha cheekily replied. "That too."

Shaking her head at the inane direction that the conversation the two were having was taking, the daughter of Hades decided she wanted nothing to do with it and turned back to what she was working on before she'd been dragged into it.

In her hands was a notepad where she'd been writing up some notes on how to help her siblings further develop their abilities based on what she observed about their performances during the recent CTF game.

While Nico had showed off a decent grasp of his inherited abilities, he needed a good reprimand for his power trip.

 _He needs to learn how to actually help his team and not just show off how great his powers are._

That and work on his CQC skill. He was insistent on being an alt tank and rely on his sword as much as he did his minions, so he needed to learn how to properly fight like one.

 _Gotta schedule some time with Pyrrha. She'll whip him into shape in no time._

Beyond that, he was off to a decent start so far. In contrast, Alkaid was a little worried about Bianca. She knew that her sister wasn't all too sold on being a hero in the first place, but she _needed_ to learn how to fight and use her powers regardless or she'd suffer a grim fate.

 _Maybe a few cautionary tales would help to convince her? It couldn't hurt at least._ Alkaid mused as she considered which tales in particular to use for the next bedtime story she told the di Angelos.

 _Maybe Daniel Boone? He was a son of Pheme who died after a run in with a Nosoi. Or maybe one of the old legends instead? Hmm…. I can decide later, for now settling on what to teach her is more important_. Alkaid realized after a moment. _While her initial idea for using her knack for umbrakinesis for stealth has merit, it still needs a lot of work_. _Considering she doesn't show much talent for stealth otherwise, it might not be the best combat style for her._

 _She'd previously expressed interest in magic hadn't she? Maybe combine her stealth with some shadow based magic? Quite a few styles of shadow magic revolve around using them as conduits for curses, so maybe one of those? It_ would _fit in with Bianca's general aversion to direct combat._

With this in mind, Alkaid noted down several schools of shadow magic to run by Bianca when she got back. She was just finishing up her list when the whole RV shook like they had hit a major bump in the road.

"Pyrrha, please tell me that was a speed bump!" Alkaid called out, already knowing the answer.

"Sorry 'Kaidy, no can do." Pyrrha shouted back while glancing out the rearview mirror. "It's a monster."

"What kind?"

"I'm not sure, Percy's checking the description in the bestiary."

"How can you two be so calm about all this!?" The son of Poseidon asked as he flipped through the encyclopedia of monsters that Alkaid had stashed in her gear for the rainy day when she ran into something she couldn't recognize.

"Experience." The two replied in synch.

"Gods, I get staying calm when a monster attacks, but acting like it's nothing is just crazy!"

"I prefer highly functional sociopath." Alkaid jested as she got to her feet, ready to face the threat. "Now what are we up against?"

The motorhome jerked to the right violently and Alkaid barely stayed standing as Pyrrha shouted back irritably, "'Kaidy stop joking around! Help Percy figure it out. The damned thing is some kind of Frankenstein wyvern thing. It's got a horse-like head, leathery bat-like wings, horns, small arms with clawed hands, cloven hooves and a forked tail. Oh, and it spits fire!"

Alkaid blinked at that description. "That's not a Greek monster. It's the Jersey Devil."

"What!?" Percy shouted in shock. "What's the Devil attacking us for?"

Alkaid couldn't help it. She chuckled at the way that Percy wasn't even questioning that the Devil was real. Had his horizons been so greatly broadened by his entry into the Greek Mythological World or was he naturally so gull- ahem, open minded?

"The Titans are hiring mercenaries."

"Monsters too apparently." Percy stated angrily.

"Monsters can be mercenaries too," Alkaid told him, "All you need to do is call them up using the Monster Yellow Pages."

"Why would the Jersey Devil be in the Monster Yellow Pages!?" Percy cried out incredulously as the RV swerved once more, though he demonstrated remarkable balance and easily swayed with the motion.

"He probably isn't," Pyrrha told him, sounding annoyed with the way he was getting hung up on the small stuff. "Kaidy was using it to make her point! Now could you kill the damned monster? I dunno? Before it roasts us alive?"

"How do we kill it? I mean, can it be killed?" Percy asked, looking towards Alkaid while sounding chastised.

"Rule number one: if it bleeds, it can probably die."

"Probably?" Percy asked worriedly, as he pulled out Riptide and uncapped it to transform it into its true form.

"There are exceptions to everything." The sorceress said distractedly, as with a gesture she opened the sun roof and using a magical platform floated both of them up to the roof of their vehicle.

"Okay, so we need to ground it." Percy muttered, looking around to see what they could use.

Alkaid looked to the son of Poseidon with exasperation. For all that he was shaping up into a great hero, it seemed he could still make rookie mistakes. Such as wanting the glory of the kill so much that he forgot that others could handle things better than he could. Or maybe he was just being a teenage boy and after all the teasing earlier was now desperately trying to reassert his manliness by killing the monster. Whatever the case, Percy was fresh out of luck.

" **επικαλούνται: σκορπιός βέλος** (Invoke: Scorpion Arrow) **!** " Alkaid incanted and sent a single silver shooting star flying through the air at the Devil.

To Alkaid's surprise, the monster actually mostly managed to evade the spell which only managed to tear a chunk out of its membranous wings and caused it to let loose a blood curdling scream. This, somehow, didn't affect its flight in the slightest and the creature kept up its pursuit even pressing the attack by breathing a torrent of flame in their direction

" **Incantare: Testudo** (Tortoise) **!** " The sorceress shouted, throwing up a wall of overlapping rectangular shields that shielded them from the Devil's demonic flames.

"This thing seems to like to play with fire." Alkaid mused. "You know what that means?"

"What?" Percy replied, looking adorably confused.

"Let's help it cool down. **Frost Bolt!"**

At her invocation, a bolt of frost shot forth from a magical circle in front of her shields and flew through the Devil's flaming breath, freezing it as it passed, and right down the monster's very gullet.

The monster let out another blood curdling scream and pulling away from the chase, began scratching at its long neck in distress even as ice spread out from it to slowly encase its body. Probably deciding that dealing with its sudden case of being frozen was more important than doing its job, the Devil landed and ran off on foot, scratching at its neck all the while.

"Alkaid, no offense but this has gotta be said."

"What does, Percy?"

"Magic is bullshit!" The son of Poseidon said passionately.

The child of Hades just smiled at him proudly. "Good to hear that you're learning!"

Percy sighed and hung his head. "Let's head back inside."

Alkaid happily nodded, and lowered them back into the trailer.

"We're at least a couple hours out." Pyrrha shouted without prompting from the driver seat.

"Thanks Py," Alkaid said as she went back to her notes. "Let me know when we enter city limits or if another monster attacks."

"Will do."

Percy meanwhile shook his head in exasperated resignation.

 _The poor boy still doesn't seem to get that this is a normal day at work for us. What does he think we do as Olympus' diplomats? Making nice with other gods' almost always means helping them kill something or the other. That or trying to avoid getting killed by something. Come to think of it… gods are a violent bunch aren't they?_

Setting these thoughts aside, Alkaid returned to her work. She had a list of magical schools to narrow down before she presented them to her sister.

* * *

A few hours later found Pyrrha, Alkaid and Percy walking through the National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian. They were surrounded by examples of the heights of America's aerospace achievements, though they paid it little to no mind. Instead, as the well trained heroes they were, they remained focused on their mission.

"'Kaidy, you sure the questers were here?" Pyrrha asked gestured at the pristine displays.

"I'm ninety percent sure." Alkaid replied confidently. "The Mist probably fixed whatever damage they caused."

"How can you guys be sure there was a fight here?" Percy asked curiously.

"Monsters simply love ambushing half-bloods at historic and iconic locations," 'Kaidy said while she waved her hands and worked some spell or other to help them track the other questers. "Besides, the Mist is strong here. Too strong for it to be normal."

"So should we expect to be ambushed too?"

Pyrrha and Alkaid both shot the boy a glare at that. He had totally just jinxed them!

"Aw man, I jinxed us didn't I?" Percy grimaced.

Suddenly, as if summoned by Percy's words, a bestial growl emanated from behind the three demigods

"This is totally your fault, Percy!" Pyrrha accused, even as she summoned her labrys and turned around with the others to face the latest monster.

Stalking towards them through the displays was a creature the size of a large lion. It mostly looked liked a cougar but its back was covered in razor sharp spines, had deer antlers, a very long prehensile tail made of copper, and a pair of draconic wings. All while leaving a trail of water behind in its wake as it moved with feline grace.

"Okay, what the heck is that?" Percy asked, sounding lost.

"Water Panther." Alkaid said as the magical circle for the spell she used to identify the monster visibly faded. "It's a underwater dragon."

"Okay, that's a new one. What myth?"

"American Indian. Algonquian specifically."

"...Other myths are real. Okay."

The water panther roared at them, its voice was like thunder causing the walls and exhibits to shake violently as a result.

"Percy," Alkaid said with an exasperated sigh. "We just fought the Jersey Devil earlier. Are you slow? Or are you simply being annoying?"

"Is it wrong to wish the world was a little less crazy?" He asked her dryly.

"Ah, self-delusional then."

The water panther roared again, this time unleashing a tidal wave alongside it that filled the exhibition hall out of nowhere and came crashing down on them.

Percy leapt forward and swung Riptide while calling on his powers, he cut the wave in half sending torrents of water to either side thus leaving a nice little dry spot for the three of them. Everything else? No so much.

That didn't satisfy the monster though and the water panther let out a thunderous roar of displeasure before charging at them. Its agitation was clear even as it sprinted at them, with its tail whipping about like a blade as its claws tore up the carpeting.

Pyrrha deflected a strike of the beast's tail that swung so fast it was practically invisible as it came just inches from taking Percy's head off. At the same time, Percy swung his sword to block a strike from its claws that tried to rend the boy. He unfortunately forgot about the monster's mouth and the thing breathed a bolt of lightning right into the son of the seas' face. Lucky for him, 'Kaidy was on the ball and a magical barrier popped into being a hair's breadth in front of his nose that deflected the bolt

"Get off him!" Pyrrha hollered, shoulder checking the felinoid dragon off and forcing it back.

Stepping between the monster and Percy, she swung her labrys down with all her might only to have it deflected by one of the dragon's wings. At the same time, its tail lashed out at her once more only to bounce off one of 'Kaidy's barriers. Undeterred, Pyrrha kicked the damned thing in the chin. Her blow had the thing smarting in pain as it forced its jaws shut hard, probably chipping a few of its teeth.

"Pyrrha, I've got its water locked down." Percy shouted sounding strained. "But it's strong. I don't know how long I can keep it up. Kill it! Quickly!"

"Working on that!" Pyrrha shouted back as she swung her labrys down on the kitty dragon that was too busy hissing in pain from its bruised jaw to react. Or at least that seemed to be the case until its tail deflected her blow but the daughter of war was prepared for that too.

"Eat some fire, kitty." Pyrrha said as she leveled Miló at the monster and bathed it in flames.

The beast howled in agony and jumped back, rolling around on the ground in a bid to smother the fire burning in its fur. Pyrrha wouldn't let it though and kept her flamethrower firmly aimed at the beast. The creature's tail kept lashing out though and the ring of it smacking against 'Kaidy's barriers was almost deafening. But for all the water panther's struggles it couldn't break through them and hurt the daughter of Ares they protected. Even then, it took a full five minutes of being subjected to the magical flames of Miló before the Native American spirit succumbed and collapsed into a pile of water that quickly boiled away.

"Huh? It left a spoil?" Pyrrha blinked in surprise as she cut off the flames. "A gem? What kind of spoil is that?"

"Looks like a enchanted jewel," 'Kaidy said thoughtfully as she walked over supporting a drained looking Percy. "Judging by its size and shape its supposed to be socketed into your labrys."

"Huh?"

Alkaid sighed and gestured for the weapon. Once Pyrrha obliged, she added, "Now pass me the gem."

Taking the aquamarine, the sorceress pushed Percy over to Pyrrha so both her arms were free before proceeding to finagle with the headpiece of the daughter of Ares' weapon for a bit before somehow fitting the thing into it. The moment this was done, the whole weapon took on a faint blue aura.

"There, it should have an aura that gives it some water element damage in addition to its physical damage now. Won't do much against most things except give it a little extra kick but against a fire elemental, it should cause it hell."

"Huh, cool." Percy noted tiredly. "That's such a thoughtful spoil. Why can't Greek monsters give things as nice as that when they die? I'm jealous."

"Ask the Monster Union," Alkaid said with a shrug. "They pretty much determine the spoils."

"You're kidding me, right? The monsters have a union?"

'Kaidy simply offered the kid an enigmatic smile and Pyrrha grinned as she took back her weapon. Putting it away, she offered him a bone. "Ask Chiron when you get back to Camp. In the meantime, let's get going. 'Kaidy, where to next?"

"Give me a minute to work my magic and I'll tell you."

* * *

It took almost two full days of driving from Washington, but finally the Potters and Percy had caught up to the other group of Questers. At least that's what Alkaid's spells were telling them. Though why they would be in some place like this was beyond him.

"What is this place?" Percy asked as they walked between huge piles of garbage of all kinds. "And are you sure the questers are here?"

"Yes, they're here and this is the Junkyard of the Gods," Alkaid informed him. "Don't touch anything."

"Why not?"

"Or the gods will claim you're stealing and send something to ruin our day." Pyrrha said sounding exasperated.

"For stealing their junk?"

"Godly junk, Percy." Alkaid reminded him sternly. "Imagine what that could do in the wrong hands."

"Oh," the son of Poseidon said as he puzzled over that idea. He hadn't even thought about it but Alkaid had a point. To someone smart enough to use it, godly junk could easily be a goldmine.

Even as the idea crossed his mind, a sudden chill fell across the whole area and both women turned to glare at Percy.

"It wasn't me! I didn't touch anything!" He said, waving his empty hands in front of him to prove his innocence.

They didn't look like they believed him which was baloney if you asked him, he wasn't _always_ the one causing trouble. Thankfully, their inquisition was interrupted by something like a wolf's howl but one which had been run through some kind of voice modulator to come out sounding tinny and mechanical.

"You dare steal from the gods?" A voice like a erupting volcano shouted.

"Lord Hephaestus, I'm not stealing!" Annabeth's voice shouted from a short distance away. "These don't belong here. They're Luke's, I'm just recovering them."

"Excuses! If it's here then it belongs to the gods. Punish the impudent mortal, my hounds." The god's booming voice replied before it was replaced by a sweet sounding feminine voice. "This has been a prerecorded greeting from your host and presented to you by the Philophrosyne Greeters Company, serving you warm greetings since the Heroic Age."

"Lord Hephaestus is totally ruining Lady Philophrosyne's rep here," Pyrrha opined with a chuckle as they all broke into a run towards where the other questers were.

"Fathers can be embarrassing like that sometimes," Alkaid said with a wistful shrug.

"Tell me about it," Pyrrha replied with a snort.

"Um, guys, killer godly hounds after our friends?" Percy said, pointing at a horse sized automation that looked like some kinda malformed wolf with a hunched back and an oversized eyeless head.

"Relax a little Percy," Alkaid told him even as she reduced the robot to scrap with a casual shadowbolt. "If you tense up at every monster fight, you'll die of a heart attack before you're thirty. Also, robotic, not godly. If so we'd be in actual trouble."

Angry howls came from all around them even as the scrap from Alkaid's kill rained down the mounds of junk that littered the surroundings.

"See? A walk in the park! **Axel Shooter**!" Alkaid said casting a spell that sent green bullets flying off in all directions and presumably killed more of Lord Hephaestus' hounds off in the distance.

"Exactly Percy." Pyrrha said as she casually chopped the head off another hound that leapt at them as they ran around a hill. "These things aren't even all that dangerous."

"What did you say, you bitch!?" The enraged voice of Thalia said as she sent one of the automatons flying towards Pyrrha on a bolt of lightning. "They aren't dangerous!?"

A barrier blocked the wrecked hound effortlessly.

"Grace," Alkaid said sharply, "Watch friendly fire. Or someone with _superior_ firepower might not be so gentle to you next time."

Percy took a good look at Thalia and immediately figured out why she was so angry. She was littered in cuts all along her hands, legs and a single deep gash on her forehead bled freely, presumably from fighting the hounds though her upper body was strangely unscathed. Which wasn't much of a surprise, there were _a lot_ of the hounds over here. There were easily over a hundred of them viciously attacking the other questers. One of which, looked to be down.

Standing over the girl was Zoë Nightshade and she was defending the wounded girl, her fellow Hunter it seemed, with her daggers. They moved like silvery blurs as she hacked and slashed at the baying mobs of automatons.

"'Kaidy, help the Hunter. She looks bad." Pyrrha shouted as she charged into the swarm of robots and hacked away at them with her labrys like a woman possessed.

Pyrrha's statement was an understatement, Percy didn't manage to get a good look but the Hunter looked like half her body had been mummified.

" **Axel Shooter!** " Alkaid cast with a grimace as she cleared a path through the mob of monsters to the Hunter. "She's dying, fast. She has little time left."

Percy followed his older cousin as she sprinted through the opening she'd made in the horde's ranks, slicing apart any robot that thought to attack her from behind. Next to him Thalia did the same, though she didn't look happy about it. Bringing up their rear was Pyrrha.

"Sorceress," Zoë pleaded as they reached her side even as she took out yet another hound.

"This is beyond me." Alkaid frowned after one look at the downed hunter. "It looks like an accelerated aging effect. I'm not a temporal mage nor do I specialize in healing. I apologize, Nightshade, but I can't do anything for her."

"Try something!" Zoë insisted, getting up into Alkaid's face.

"I'll do my best," Alkaid replied, ignoring the Hunter's belligerence. " **Incantare: Tiber Benedictiones** (Tiber Blessings)."

A blue glow surrounded Phoebe's - _That was the Hunter's name, right?_ \- body for a moment but quickly faded having seemingly done nothing.

"I'm sorry Phoebe. I tried." Alkaid said, offering the girl an apologetic bow. "I will make sure you reach Elysium as soon as the quest is over."

"Th-Thank you." The muscular hunter rasped. She let out a cough, releasing a cloud of red and orange dust. At the same time, the rest of her body mummified right in front of their eyes before crumbling into dust.

"Phoebe!" Zoë hissed in a furious growl before throwing herself into the still numerous pack of automatons and attacking them with a vengeance. She moved so quickly that she looked like a shooting star as her silver blades danced and her long raven hair trailed behind her like a tail.

"Guys, we took out the last smoke- Percy!? What are you doing here?" Grover said as he trotted over, with Annabeth in tow.

"We need to leave." Alkaid said, giving Annabeth a cold, accusing glare. "Drop the item so we aren't followed. We don't need more pointless deaths thanks to you."

"No, these are Luke's! I can-" Annabeth began before Pyrrha gut punched her and she dropped to her knees wheezing in pain. As she did, a pair of familiar sneakers that Percy had thought lost in Tartarus fell out of her pack and landed next to her.

With a snap of her fingers, Alkaid vaporized them with a shadowbolt. Immediately, the hounds froze where they stood for a moment before turning around and bounding away.

"Let's go." Alkaid tersely announced, looking over to Zoë who was standing at the centre of a pile of automaton carcasses and glaring at the retreating pack. "Nightshade! We're moving out! Come on!"

The Hunter nodded and turning a furious glare at Annabeth, walked towards them, tucking her blades away with deliberate slowness. Percy didn't know about Annabeth, but the display left him mightily intimidated and he gulped nervously.

"Yes, let's leave this place." Zoë said, her voice as cold as the Arctic Circle. "Lead the way, sorceress."

* * *

 **Done and done! Thanks to the team of Nameless and Axios as always.**

 **Ah, RV travel. Truly is there no better way to go save the world? Now if only it came with a GPS, lolz!**

 **Nameless: So Percy has learned that other mythologies exist, will that have an impact on the story in the future? Well, wait and see. We honestly haven't decided yet, so even we don't know.**

 **So we had a lot of minor fights in this chapter, but what's a quest without being pestered by monsters on the trip?**

 **Nameless: Hopefully they were fun to read. We certainly had fun writing them up.**

 **Now, some might call foul with Annie taking something from the gods, but remember, when Luke's involved her IQ drops. Plus, hubris. Fatal Flaws be called fatal for a reason!**

 **Nameless: Puberty hormones makes fools out of all of us. Annabeth is no exception. Her crush on Luke stirs up the full hormonal reaction, combine that with her hubris like E4E points out… Well the end result, is her doing stupid things and then legitimately thinking she's in the right.**

 **You know what to do! Smash that review button and tell us what you loved! No flames and peace out my peeps!**


	20. Chapter 20

**Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson or Harry Potter.**

 **Consul of the Underworld: Grinding Phase**

 **Chapter Twenty: Only in Hoover**

 **Beta: ShadowofAxios**

* * *

The walk from the Junkyard of the Gods to their RV was thankfully uneventful, giving the group the time to compare their quests so far. To Alkaid's pleasant surprise, no one, not even Zoë, protested their presence. They hadn't even asked why they were there, though Pyrrha had helpfully informed them that Apollo had sent them on a parallel quest to free Artemis. The daughter of Hades reasoned that after the beating they took in the Junkyard, the original team of questers felt that they needed any help they could get.

If that was case, then she couldn't really blame them. Apparently they'd had run ins with Skeleton Warriors and the Nemean Lion too, and although Grace had earned herself a nice new armored coat from the latter, they had also gotten quite badly banged up.

"So where are we going?" Percy asked curiously.

"Hoover Dam," Alkaid said tiredly. The spell she'd used to determine the location of the "bane of Olympus" they were supposed to be following was more exhausting than she'd expected. It was definitely harder than tracking the questers, like she had until now. Whatever it was probably had powerful protections keeping it hidden. In the end, she'd worked around it by targeting their next quest destination rather than the object itself.

As they filed into the RV, Chase was practically vibrating in excitement.

"Hoover Dam?" Chase gasped in glee. "That's one of my favourite architectural marvels!"

Everyone shot her a glare. The daughter of Athena stumbled back in shock, her mouth open seemingly ready to defend herself. A look from Zoë though shut her mouth. Alkaid would have done the same in the situation. The lieutenant of the Hunters was sporting a frankly terrifying mask at the moment.

"Alkaid, you're tracking the bane of Olympus right?" Grover said sounding sad. "I guess we _are_ fulfilling the prophecy step by step, aren't we? Phoebe died in the desert, the land without rain."

"Yes she did," Zoë said, as she turned away from Annabeth to looking wistfully out the window next to which she'd taken a seat, to admire the Midwestern countryside outside the window. "Phoebe was nearly in the Hunt as long as I. It is difficult to know she is gone."

"Indeed it is. Though, even with your longevity, Hunters will pass sooner or later. It's the cycle of life." Alkaid told the ancient Hunter.

Zoë said nothing, instead opting to continue staring out the window with a thousand yard stare. To the daughter of Hades' surprise, this prompted Grace to hesitantly walk towards Zoë with a conflicted look on her face and take a seat next to her.

"I can't imagine your loss." The daughter of Zeus said in a whisper that only Alkaid's well honed hearing allowed her to pick up. "But I've lost people too."

The Hunter turned to look at Grace searchingly for a long moment before nodding and turning back to look out the window. If the daughter of Zeus was offended, she didn't show it. Instead she just sat there offering the older girl silent support and comfort.

Over in the living room, Percy was trying to talk with Annabeth, but the blonde had a miserable look on her face. One that Alkaid felt she totally deserved. No matter how they cut it, the girl's silly infatuation with Luke Castellan had cost Phoebe her life. The daughter of Athena deserved some misery for causing that. Grover meanwhile was sitting in one corner near his two friends, doing of all things, meditating! All while mumbling something about Pan.

 _Well, they did mention earlier that he felt traces of his power on their way to the Junkyard. He must be trying to figure out what that means._

Seeing everyone was busy doing their own thing, Alkaid sauntered over to the front of the motorhome and took a seat next to Pyrrha.

"Everything kosher back there?"

"It's as good as can be," Alkaid replied with a shrug. "Mind if I keep you company till we reach the Dam?"

"Mm, always, 'Kaidy."

* * *

As they drove into the designated Hoover Dam parking lot, Alkaid was greeted with an unpleasant sight. Standing right in the middle of the lot were a group of armed young women that she recognized as Amazons led by Tabitha, who was standing there at their head in all her blonde supermodel glory. They were holding up a large banner demanding Alkaid come and face her in a duel.

"'Kaidy, is that the crazy Amazon Queen you told me about that one time? The one your Father says has developed some kind of stalker obsession with you?" Pyrrha frowned as she leaned against the wheel.

"Unfortunately, yes."

"Amazons here?" Zoë said as she came up front.

"Yes, the current Queen… desires me." Alkaid admitted, disgusted at the mere thought of Tabitha's intentions.

"As a bed slave, yes, I've heard." Zoë said with a nod. "Most think she's a delusional fool. As if your Father would not exact bloody vengeance if she ever tried to carry out on her wish."

"Lord Hades can get in line." Pyrrha growled.

"Why am I thankful that Mina isn't here, right now?"

"Because she'd stabbity stab that dumb bitch?"

"And start a war with the Amazons," Alkaid said with a sigh.

"Hey, our little girl can take them."

"As true as that might be," Zoë pinched the bridge of her nose. "And as disagreeable as I think Tabitha's goals are, I would like to avoid conflict with the Amazons if at all possible. They have something of a special relationship with we Hunters."

"So I've heard," Alkaid noted with a smirk. "So let's try talking first?"

"Yes," Zoë agreed with a twinge of hopefulness in her voice. "I will try to convince her to not be so irrevocably daft."

"Good luck with that." Alkaid said as they parked. "Let's go start negotiations then."

"Greetings, pet." Tabitha said by way of greeting as the group piled out of the trailer and walked over. "And you as well Nightshade."

"What are we chopped liver?" Percy joked, only to be silenced by a jab from Annabeth.

"Percy, be serious! That woman wants to kidnap Alkaid and turn her into her sex slave."

As the blonde finished, all joviality bled out of Percy and his face changed. Gone was the playful teenager and in its place was the hero who had defeated Ares. A man who was itching to sink his blade into Tabitha. An image helped along by the way that Riptide just _materialized_ in his hand.

The change was so drastic and so terrifying that Annabeth jerked back from him in shock. Tabitha though was not intimidated and just chuckled.

"Ha, an interesting little boy. I'm sure my Sisters would love him."

"Tabitha," Zoë returned the earlier greeting tersely. "This is not the time for thee to-"

"Ugh, all you do is lecture and prattle on, Nightshade! Honestly, you need to get laid."

"Be serious Tabitha! This quest-"

"Is important. When isn't it?"

"Zoë, she won't listen to reason." Alkaid told the Hunter, aggravation in her tone.

Zoë grit her teeth and nodded.

"Oh, I'm not as completely unreasonable as all that." Tabitha said with a smirk. "I'm not going to interfere with you lot's little quest. All I want is my pet. The rest of you can continue on your merry little way. Be heroes, save Lady Artemis. Go on, shoo."

Alkaid exchanged a look with Pyrrha at this, and after a moment received a nod from the redhead. Turning to the Hunter in their party, the daughter of Hades said. "Zoë take Percy with you."

"What!? Alkaid, I'm supposed to be with you!"

"For attempting to help Phoebe, I will do this." Zoë promised grabbing Percy and pulling him away. "Come boy. Sorceress, stay safe."

"Alkaid, you sure?" Grace asked, electricity sparking from all over her body as she sent the Amazons a glare.

"Yes, Py and I will handle this."

The daughter of Zeus gave them a nod, before she dragged a hesitant Grover and Annabeth off as she followed after Zoë.

"Now that they're gone, let's do this shall we?" Tabitha said with a smirk stepping forward with a malicious smirk on her face. Her mood wasn't shared by her Sisters though if the uneasy looks they were sporting were any clue. Not that they did anything to stop her.

Ugh, stupid social darwinistic Amazonian hierarchy.

"Fight me one on one, and when I win you'll submit to me." Tabitha flipped her hair braid, a vicious smile on her face.

"I don't think so," Pyrrha said stepping in front of Alkaid gallantly. "'Kaidy is _my wife_. Not your toy. You want to try anything with her, you'll have to go through me!"

Alkaid felt her heart skip a beat at Pyrrha's declaration. Especially because she'd said she was her "wife".

 _I'm so marrying that woman after this quest. War be damned. We can have the reception later, but I'm gonna have my ring on her finger by the end of this year or die trying._

 _Is that so, young one?_ A cultured voice echoed from the depths of her mind. _Then let me help you with that._

The words were barely finished when a wall of divine multicolored flames exploded out of the earth and created an arena that separated Tabitha, Pyrrha and herself from the rest of the Amazons.

It looked like something straight out of New Rome.

"What is this?!" Tabitha shouted as she looked around them in shock. Her fellow Sisters shared her uncertainty of what was happening as they drew their weapons in a panic. They had their answer when suddenly a golden peacock walked out of the flames.

"This _Amazon_ ," the divine beast said, spitting the word. "Is my way of sanctioning this contest."

Alkaid and Pyrrha both bowed before this clear avatar of the Lady Hera, but Tabitha was either too stupid or brash to do the same.

"You, Lady Hera, would help me claim my pet?" Tabitha sneered. "I find that hard to believe."

"I know you are a slow child, but wow… Ares sure can pick them." The peacock said shaking its head and sighing in exasperation before turning to address the Potters. "Girls, pardon my language, but beat the shit out of this harlot. I am honestly angry. More so then having that _girl_ so close by."

"Gladly, Lady Hera." Pyrrha roared as she lunged forward and swung her labrys in a powerful overhead strike at Tabitha. The vicious smile on her face was very akin to her father's. Alkaid didn't think that was a bad thing.

"Fool!" The Amazon Queen shouted as she deflected the blow with nothing more than her pinky. "I am a daughter of Bia! I can control the very forces of the world!"

" **Silence!** " Alkaid cast easily, her hands radiating arcane energy. "You talk too much. Oh, and eat a case of **Slow! Confusion! Poison!** as your side dishes."

The Amazon Queen might have said something in reply, but with all the curses Alkaid had just hit her with all she managed was a wordless slur made soundless by her Silence spell and stumble around as if drunk. An impression enhanced when she bent over and began vomiting thanks to the effect of the poison she'd been cursed with.

Oh, Alkaid had been waiting for this day. Physical spells might not work but outright curses? Well, the daughter of the Rich One had a _list_ of those. Besides, it wasn't often that her opponent actually gave her the option to use all that subtle magic Baba Yaga had urged her to learn. She wasn't about to let the opportunity go unused.

Pyrrha took another powerful swing and knocked the Queen down as the madwoman stumbled around like a fool from all the status effects running amuck with her brain and body. Pouncing on their prone, disorientated opponent Pyrrha brought her labrys down on the bitch's right arm, cleanly severing it from the shoulder.

The prone Amazon Queen, unable to summon her defenses, let out a soundless scream as blood spurted out of her new stump.

"You wanted to hurt my 'Kaidy!? Well, I'm gonna break you then murder you!" Pyrrha roared as she moved to cut the woman's other arm off.

 _Oh my! That's, just, um-_ Alkaid thought, feeling all hot and bothered by Pyrrha's words. Watching her love fight for her honor was so sweet and hot and just- oh it was going to be a hell of a night after the wedding.

Unfortunately, the grievous wound seemed to give the Amazon enough of a shock to her system to regain some of her bearings and she summoned a mace to her remaining hand that she slammed into Pyrrha's side with thunderous force.

The blow sent Pyrrha tumbling off her, but Alkaid had layered her lover in enough spells that the blow should have felt like little more than a love tap especially since the bitch's powers were still silenced.

 _Too bad I don't have something to negate the full force of that blow. Something to work on I guess._

"I must give that pile of excrement credit, she's durable." Lady Hera's peacock said as Tabitha struggled to her feet, seemingly unfazed by the bloody wound from her dismemberment.

"Lord Ares won't be too upset if she dies, will he?" Alkaid asked.

"Not if I tell him to keep it to himself he won't."

"Thank you Lady Hera," Alkaid said with a respectful nod. "Oh! **Slow! Confusion! Pain Amplification x10!** "

"No no, Auntie will do. Family needs not be so formal in these situations."

Alkaid didn't know if she meant the fight or the wedding plans. Probably the latter.

While she was chatting with the goddess, Pyrrha had rushed towards Tabitha once more and ducking under the Amazon's addled, slowed swing, buried her labrys deep into the bitch's side. Spinning with the other woman embedded on the head of her axe, she sent her flying into the flaming walls of their conjured arena which set her ablaze.

Tabitha collapsed to the bottom of the flames, a burned mess crying out in pain but with no noise escaping her thanks to the still active Silence curse. Pyrrha was going in for the kill when in a pillar of flame Ares in all his biker glory appeared to stand between his daughter and the downed Amazon.

"Stay your hand, daughter." The god of war said in a strangely polite voice. The fire behind his wraparound shades were burning brightly, like he was furious but couldn't express it as he normally would.

If a peacock could scowl, Auntie Hera's avatar most certainly did. "Excuse me. Ares, son, you are interfering. Why?"

"I can't have you just kill my Amazon Queen just because she's a lech. Especially in a fight where the winners can't succeed her because it wasn't one on one. If I did, it would lead to political chaos and _we_ can't afford that. Not right now. Not to mention Amazon dot com."

"I suggest you get a new Queen. This one seems to be defective."

"I'm working on it." Ares admitted, looking discomforted. "But until I get a new one, Tabitha's gotta stay. I like it as much as you do, mother. I actually like Hades' brat. She'll be a great daughter-in-law. But my hands are my tied. For now."

"Oh fine," Lady Hera allowed reluctantly. "Then just take your Amazons and be gone."

"Alright. Don't start the wedding without me. I'll be back in a sec!" Lord Ares said even as he disappeared in another pillar of flame taking Tabitha and her Amazons with her.

"Now that that's settled, time for the wedding." Lady Hera declared.

"Here? Now?" Alkaid said self consciously brushing her hair.

"Didn't you say the reception could wait?" Hera said shooting her a glare. "Besides, look, the guests are already arriving."

"Indeed, daughter." Father said as he materialized right next to Alkaid.

"So glad we're second string questers at the moment. Because if this ain't interference I don't know what is." Pyrrha muttered.

"Mum, Mama, I'm so, so happy! You're finally getting married!" Mina said as she tackle hugged a lost looking Pyrrha.

"Relax, Pyrrha." Baba Yaga said as she trailed after Mina. "Your Fates probably set this up to make sure you two didn't interfere with the other group too much. They like their little tapestries and you two take to them like a wrecking ball half the time."

"I want five sisters and three brothers." Mina demanded.

"Uh, we'll try?" Pyrrha said hesitantly.

"Good enough," Mina said as she hopped off and ran over to give Alkaid a hug.

"This is all very rushed," Alkaid tried once more even as she patted Mina's back.

"It is," Makaria agreed, appearing next to Melinoe who she was clutching like a lifeline.

"Hush, all of you." Hera said glaring at everyone. When the Queen of Heaven spoke, people certainly listened. "I say we do it now and I'm the Queen of the Heavens, so do as I say. Now!"

"Yes Sister." Father rolled his eyes. "Drama Queen more like it."

"I heard that Hades!" Hera snapped, but any further argument was cut short when Ares teleported back.

"What did I miss?"

"Nothing important, son." Hera smiled, turning to look at him. "Now conjure your daughter a nice wedding dress. You too Hades."

"Can it be blood armor?"

"No." Hera, Alkaid and Pyrrha all shouted at the same time, much to everyone else's amusement.

"Tch, fine." Ares said as he snapped his fingers and created a blood red, very feminine backless ball gown for Pyrrha. He even helped her style her hair so the beautiful red locks spilled down her back.

"Mama looks extra pretty." Mina cooed, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

"Okay, so I see why you like her now." Melinoe said as another instance of her popped in with Jane and the di Angelos, the former of which rushed over to her daughter to gush at her. "She's a solid 7/10."

"Melinoe, be nice." Makaria said, slapping the arm of their sister she was leaning against even as the other one vanished.

"What? I am. She's usually lower." The goddess of ghosts said defensively.

"I don't care." Alkaid said at last, as she stepped away from her Father now dressed in a forest green off shoulder gown decorated with multiple onyxes like small stars. "She's the only one I want and that's that."

Pyrrha blushed at that and nodded in agreement with the sentiment.

"Melinoe, I'll repeat what Makaria said." Persephone said as she materialized with an unhappy looking Demeter in tow. "Be nice."

"Kore, this is what you wanted to drag me to? The bastard's wedding?"

The glare that Demeter was subjected to from the entire House of Hades, her daughter included, would have killed her if she was a lesser god.

"Mother, if you cannot be civil at _my daughter_ 's wedding then leave. Now." The goddess of Springtime and Flowers and Queen of the Underworld hissed.

Demeter grumbled but sat down in a hastily conjured throne made of wheat stalks, looking displeased as the corn in her hair popped occasionally.

"Chairs! Well at least you had _one_ good idea today, Mother." Persephone said shooting Demeter another warning look, as she snapped her fingers and conjured chairs for everyone made from living bushes. "Everyone have a seat!"

"And get comfortable," Aunt Hestia said as she popped in via a pillar of flame and the whole area inside Hera's little arena was transformed into a Victorian ballroom. "I hope this suits your tastes, Alkaid, Pyrrha."

"It does," Alkaid assured her Aunt. "Very elegant."

"It reminds me a little of Hogwarts and that's nice."

"5/10." Melinoe commented with a sigh. "You two have bad taste."

"You're one to talk." Makaria said pinching the eldest daughter of Hades. "If you had your way this would look all punk goth."

That this was met with shudders from almost everyone present, except the clueless di Angelos, said much about what they thought of the goddess of ghosts' tastes.

Mostly ignoring the byplay, Hera looked at the sky, wings crossed with a frown, which was weird to see on a peacock. She only got a rumble in return. "Fine, be that way. Miss the biggest wedding we've had in decades."

"Sister, are you going to carry out the ceremony as a peacock?" Demeter teased. This earned laughs form both Hestia and Hades, though the latter almost immediately caught himself before frowning at laughing with his hated mother-in-law/sister. Alkaid knew her family was weird, but she loved them for it. Though with Artemis captured, their jovial nature was somewhat off putting.

"Of course not, Demeter." Hera said as she transformed into a regal human form. "I was just waiting for the right moment."

"In other words, you forgot." Hades said with a smirk, that had his other sisters tittering with amusement. Though like he had earlier, Demeter soon stifled her laughter and frowned.

Completely ignoring her brother, the Queen of the Heavens gestured for Alkaid and Pyrrha to step forward. "Let's get started shall we? We've wasted enough time as is."

As she obeyed, Alkaid felt butterflies fluttering in her stomach. She was excited in way that she'd never felt before. Finally after _forever_ , she was marrying Pyrrha!

Alkaid would usually have paid more attention to the ceremony, since it invoked a great deal of ancient magical bindings and the like, but she was a little too overwhelmed with the prospect of marrying the love of her life. She did regain her focus though when Hera turned to address her.

"Alkaid Potter, daughter of Hades and Persephone, demigod, sorceress, do you take Pyrrha Branwen, daughter of Ares and Jane Branwen, demigod, as your lawfully married spouse for time immemorial?"

"I do." Alkaid said with utter conviction.

"Pyrrha Branwen, daughter of Ares and Jane Branwen, demigod, do you take Alkaid Potter, daughter of Hades and Persephone, demigod, sorceress, as your lawfully married spouse for time immemorial?"

"I do," Pyrrha said eagerly.

"Then exchange the symbolic foods." Hera said as Mina appeared between the two demigods holding up a pair of apples. Pyrrha looked at Alkaid in confusion, so the daughter of Hades took the lead and picked up one of the fruits and offered it to her.

"Together?" Pyrrha asked, as she copied her lover.

"That will be fine." Hera said offering the two young women a smile.

Smiling at each other, both women bit down on the apple offered to them by their partner.

"With this, as Goddess of Marriage I pronounce you two wed in the eyes of god and man. May none tear asunder what has been made one today or face the wrath of all Olympus. This I swear on the Styx!"

Magical thunder shook the world for a moment, as Hera put her power behind the sanctity of Alkaid and Pyrrha's marriage. It lasted only a moment though before the entire audience jumped to their feet and applauded the newlyweds. Amidst this standing ovation, Alkaid pulled Pyrrha into a tender kiss, eyes closed as she savoured the sweetest kiss they ever shared.

* * *

 **Omake: The Sabbington Six**

Mina had just been tucked into bed by her parents, dutifully closing her eyes and pretending to fall asleep so that Mum and Mama wouldn't worry about her all night. As the two women closed the door to her room, the little goddess waited a solid ten minutes to make sure they weren't coming back to check on her before carefully opening her eyes and quietly sliding out of her bed.

Hehe, she was being so sneaky!

Making sure that she made as little noise as possible, the silver haired little girl opened the drawer of her study table and pulled out a notebook. It was decorated with all kinds of drawings of little boys and girls, musical notes and instruments. This was one of Mina's greatest treasures! It was the place where she penned down all her ideas for her future siblings and their future pop music group, the Sabbington Six!

Now she just needed to make sure Mum and Mama got pregnant right away. At the same time even. The faster the better in Mina's opinion.

"We girls will handle the vocals, of course, 'cause we're cute and people like cute singers." Mina said sagely as she flipped to a page full of costume designs. "We'll get to dress up in all kinda pretty dresses and costumes. It'll be great!"

Little Mina had been confused about how many sisters she wanted. But eventually settled on five of them, mainly because she'd seemed to always only manage to come up with six costume designs for every theme. Well, she'd actually usually have one more or less, but it averaged out to six at least.

"Oh!" She gasped quietly as she flipped to a page about all the support roles she'd learned that a performing group needed. "If Mama or Mum have twins, they can act as the sound and special effects directors. If not, we can just have the brothers who are born closest together do it. And we'll need another brother to be our manager and we'll be all set! Hehe, Mina's a genius."

Flipping through the pages of her book again, she settled on a listing of all the songs she'd written so far. It was a substantial list, but one which she still found lacking.

"Alright, we have cute songs. Happy songs. Hm, I think we need a bigger genre choice." She tapped her fuzzy pen against her lips. Man, planning for the future was hard!

"Little missy is not sleeping agains?" Missy, one of Mum's House Elves asked as she popped in, her arms crossed and trying to look stern. "Mistresses will nots be happy."

"Missy, shh! I'm plotting for my future siblings~!"

"Future little misses and masters?" Missy asked, her voice dreamy.

The goddess of serial killers nodded seriously. Which was greatly undermined by her fuzzy pjs.

"Whats you planning?" Missy asked curiously, her scolding completely forgotten.

"We're all gonna be a girl group!" Mina declared proudly. "Me and my sisters, there'll be six of us, will sing and our three brothers will run things for us backstage."

"Six little misses and three young masters to spoil? Oh my!" Missy all but squealed in joy as she squirmed on the spot.

"Hehe! That's why you gotta let me plan. First I have to threaten Eileithyia. Gotta make sure she makes Mum and Mama fertile."

"Yous haven't done it yet?" Missy said sounding disappointed.

"Baba says we'll go do it next time she babysits," Mina reassured the elf with a pout. She was making Arts and Crafts last time! Sue her!

"Can Missy help?" The elf asked eagerly. Her already large eyes broadened even further in excitement.

"Yes! Now, what kind of music would a girls idol group have to stand out more?"

* * *

 **Done and done! Thanks to the team of Nameless and Axios as always!**

 **Man, this chapter, by itself, was a rollercoaster ride! Hope the craziness of the chapter matched the pace well enough.**

 **Nameless: What we're saying is that the fast pace of the chapter is deliberate and is an attempt to show the insanely frantic turn of events that surrounded the wedding. Have we overdone it? Let us know.**

 **Ah, seeing the stalker choke on it. It makes me all fuzzy inside. Its amazing she's still** _ **alive**_ **. I mean, one must question why she hasn't been killed… but that's for us to know.**

 **Nameless: About Tabitha's easy defeat. We know it was a little too easy. That said, she was being stupid and was used by Hera to get what she wanted: a wedding. You might have missed it but it was Hera who set things up so that it was a thoroughly unfair fight for Tabby. Don't worry too much,** **our resident psycho will be back and with friends next time.** **Friends capable of preventing a repeat of such a one-sided defeat. Look forward to it. In the meantime, this humiliation will just serve to make her even more of a mad dog.**

 **Another thing, what Persephone calls Alkaid in the wedding is** _ **very**_ **deliberate on her part. She's staking her claim at last. A little slow, considering she raised the girl but better late than never.**

 **E4E: Yeah, all hail** _ **her**_ **daughter. Poor Lily.**

 ** **Hope everyone had a happy Valentine's Day!****

 **You know what to do! Smash that review button and tell us what you love! No flames and peace out my peeps!**


	21. Chapter 21

**Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson or Harry Potter.**

 **Consul of the Underworld: Grinding Phase**

 **Chapter Twenty One: The Mixed Bag of Xmas**

 **Beta: ShadowofAxios**

* * *

Alkiad lounged in a simple bikini with a similarly dressed Pyrrha cuddled beside her as they both enjoyed some peace and quiet by the pool of the villa that they'd been allowed to use as part of the one day in the Blessed Isles that was both their honeymoon and wedding gift from her Auntie Hera.

"Best honeymoon spot. Ever." Pyrrha murmured as she snuggled deeper into her wife's side.

Relishing in her wife's warmth and the blissful setting, the daughter of Hades couldn't agree more. There was a sense of absolute peace and happiness that pervaded the Isles which when combined with its ability to grant any want its inhabitants or guests might have, combined to make it the best place in all of Greek creation. Bar none.

"I could spend eternity here." Alkaid said as she put an arm around her wife's shoulders and pulled the redhead closer. "I can see why this is the best afterlife in the Underworld."

Sure she had visited on a few occasions, but had never _stayed_ for more than a little while. Without divine permission, and even her Father had never been indulgent enough to give her that, a mortal visiting the Isles would have their souls wither away into nothing from pure bliss within hours.

"Be that as it may, girls, I'm sorry but your time's up." A strained voice said from inside their villa.

The newlyweds turned lazily to see a handsome man with golden blonde hair and a flaming aura of power striding purposefully towards them. He was dressed in a traditional chiton in addition to a bow and a quiver full of arrows slung over its shoulders.

"Is it really, Lord Apollo?" Alkaid asked wistfully, not wanting to leave. She'd recognized the god almost immediately. His fiery aura was unmistakable.

"I'm afraid so, Alkaid." The god said apologetically. "You need to leave now if you want to continue your quest. And your friends need you."

"What's happened?" Pyrrha asked, sitting up in alarm even as clothes magically appeared on her as per the power of the Isles. Clothes that Alkaid was surprised to note consisted of a very feminine houndstooth shawl collar blouse, a ruffle waistline pencil skirt and a long sleeved flower patterned double breasted trench coat.

 _Pyrrha really is rediscovering her femininity lately isn't she._ Alkaid noted with some pride in her small part in helping her do so. _I like it. It suits her._

If the politely appreciative look in Apollo's eyes were any indication, the god agreed.

"They're about to storm Othrys and an army of monsters is moving to catch them from the rear." The god of truth said seriously, setting aside his appreciation. "Frederick Chase, Annabeth's mortal father, intends to mount a rescue using his Sopwith Camel. It would be prudent if you joined him."

Sitting up and finding herself dressed in a back slit bowknot detailed sheath dress and a double breasted banded collar woolen coat, Alkaid allowed herself a sigh in resignation that this couldn't be avoided.

"Where can we meet him?"

"Sonoma Valley Airport. Are you ladies ready? I can teleport you there now."

Pyrrha and Alkaid both shot their honeymoon villa one last wistful look and exchanged one between themselves before nodding.

"We're ready," the Potters said in unison.

"Then good luck, girls." Lord Apollo offered as all three vanished in a brilliant flash of light.

* * *

The two women materialized in the hangar of some aerodrome next to a handsome, athletic, middle-aged man with intense brown eyes, and sandy-colored hair who was hastily working on an vintage Sopwith Camel plane from World War 1. Even without the heads up from Lord Apollo it wouldn't have been difficult to identify the man, his hair alone was a dead ringer for Annabeth.

The man, looking confused at seeing the two suddenly appear, turned to them and nervously asked, "Um, can I help you?"

Alkaid smiled disarmingly and said, "Mr. Chase, we're here to assist in a rescue operation. As I'm sure you've heard about."

"Yes I have," The man said, standing a little straighter as he finished his flight checks and moved on to checking the guns. "You two are here to help?"

"Yes, we are."

Pyrrha largely tuned out the conversation. Being all diplomatic was her 'Kaidy's area of expertise. Besides she was too busy admiring the marvelous weapon that was the restored Sopwith Camel F.1. As a daughter of Ares, she had a innate appreciation for all manner of weapons, and this vintage fighter plane was no exception. She was admiring its wonderfully deadly design when the glint of bronze caught her eye as Chase checked that he'd properly loaded the guns' ammo feeds and she couldn't stop herself as she jumped into the conversation.

"Are those Celestial Bronze _bullets_ you're loading into those guns?" Pyrrha asked shocked. "Don't you know they can only be used once? That they'll immediately disintegrate afterward?"

"I know," Chase said as he went back to checking the guns. "But there isn't any other way I can use it effectively with the Camel, now can I?"

Pyrrha tried to think of something but came up short. Using a plane as a platform, any Celestial Bronze they used would be single use anyways. That being the case, it actually made sense to use bullets since the Camel came with a pair of Vickers machine guns.

"But how many bullets do you have?"

"Not many," Chase admitted. "Only enough for a few strafing runs. I intend to make them count though."

"We'll help there."

"Ever see a walking nuke? We got one right here." Pyrrha thumbed at Alkaid with a quirked lip and receiving a tired sigh from her wife at the oft repeated joke.

"Even if she's as powerful as you say, the Camel is a single seater. The only way I can think of for you to help me is if you got me more Celestial Bronze, but I have no time to melt it down anymore."

"We have our ways, Mr. Chase." Alkaid smiled coyly. "Do not worry about us."

* * *

"Those are a lot of monsters," Pyrrha noted with a frown as she gazed down at the horde of monsters rushing up Mount Othrys and the beleaguered questers which looked exhausted after a tough fight with Atlas who thankfully was once more imprisoned under the weight of the sky.

"Agreed," Alkaid noted as they flew next to Mr. Chase's Camel on one of her magical platforms. "Lady Artemis looks exhausted too and in no position to do anything about them. We need to buy them some time while she recovers. Mr. Chase, you think you can strafe the enemy vanguard? My spells are likely to cause quite a bit of collateral damage and I don't want any spillover."

"Leave that to me, Mrs. Potter." Mr. Chase shouted as he sent his plane into a dive towards the front lines of the enemy army.

"Pyrrha, handle shields. I doubt the monsters can hit us while we're so high up but-"

"Better safe than sorry. Got it." Pyrrha agreed, pulling out her wand.

Alkaid meanwhile summoned her Grimoire and flipped through it for the spell she wanted.

"Silent whisper on blackest night, cruel equalizer," the sorceress began chanting as she picked out the appropriate spell card and slammed her focus around it, intending to fully amplify her casting. "Bring my enemies to where death and nightmare reigns supreme! **Nocturnal Annihilation!** "

At her command, a sphere of pitch black darkness appeared in the thickest concentration of the monstrous army, where it proceeded to eat away at all life within, consuming it and leaving a lifeless patch of earth that was covered in a sea of gold dust.

The sudden attack threw the army into confusion and they milled about in shock trying to comprehend what had just happened. Shrieks and roars along with a few commanding shouts ran throughout the surprised throng as they scattered from the bombardment and sought cover wherever they could. This mayhem gave Mr. Chase an opening that he fully exploited to begin strafing the leading elements of the monster army. Alkaid however was not resting on her laurels just yet.

" **επικαλούνται: Οι Επτά βέλη της η Μεγάλη Άρκτος** [Invoke: The Seven Arrows of the Big Dipper]!"

As her spell words spread on the wind, the roar of seven meteors hurtling through the sky resounded all around them. As one the monsters all looked up and bore witness as seven hunks of rock proceeded to smash into the pier where the cruise ship from whence the monster army was pouring out was docked. Monsters died by the thousands and even the heavily warded ship was badly damaged and began to take on water.

It seemed however this was finally enough to trigger a response and some of the monsters finally began retaliating, hurling rocks and other projectiles the Potters' way. Even with their monstrous strength though, their throws fell far short. Though the increasingly large flock of varied flying beasts that were raising into the air towards them _were_ a threat.

"'Kaidy." Pyrrha warned even as she shot spells at the flying mob, thinning them as best she could.

"I see them. **Επικαλούνται: βροχή φωτός** [Invoke: Rain of Light] **!"** Alkaid cast, causing the sky overhead to ripple as beams of light rained down like heavenly judgement. They were so numerous that not only did they wipe out a large chunk of the intercepting aerial monsters but also obliterated another big portion of the landbound army.

It was a satisfying sight that she was sure made Pyrrha's blood sing.

"'Kaidy, Chase is coming back." Pyrrha informed her as Alkaid finished with her latest spell.

"Raging fires heed my call and descend on my foes with all your fury. Burn away my enemies till they are nought but ash! **Firestorm!** "

The spell conjured into being a billowing inferno punctuated by a trio of fire tornadoes that washed over the enemy army like a tsunami of flames.

"Ladies," Mr. Chase shouted as he neared. "The children are safe! We're meeting back up at Sonoma. Meet you there."

"Got it!" Pyrrha shouted back, before turning to her wife. "'Kaidy, let's go."

"No!" Alkaid retorted, bloodlust pumping in her veins and a cruel smile spread across her lips. "This is the perfect time to thin our enemies' numbers out a little!"

" **I think not, sorceress!** " A evil voice boomed from the whole mountain as whole chunks of its mass shot into the air at them.

At the same time, and far more distressingly in Alkaid's opinion was the immensely powerful presence that suddenly surrounded them. The air became charged with vile, chaotic energy that sought to crush her very being. To tear her apart and leave her nothing more than a wretch under its absolute dominion.

"Shit, is that-?"

"Yes, it's the Crooked One." Alkaid confirmed as she pushed her magical platform into high gear and started to fly away as fast as she could from the accursed mountain.

Sweat poured down Alkaid's face as her grandfather's oppressive power began to surround them and press down upon her. It was like a million needles was puncturing her brain all at once. _Even in that matchbox of his, he could end us. Fuck! Why can't he just die off like his fallen age!_

"'Kaidy, the rocks aren't blowing up." Pyrrha shouted, sounding rattled just as much as she was. "I've tried knocking them out of the sky, but-"

"We need to get out of Othrys' area of control." Alkaid told her through laboured breaths. "His power is protecting them and smothering ours. I'm barely keeping ahead of them as is."

"Shit!" Pyrrha cursed as she upped the tempo of her casting, presumably as the rocks got closer. "How much further? And doesn't this remind you of the time in Jersey with the crazy three headed dragon?"

"A few hundred metres, and yes it does."

The rock missiles seemed to sense their window of opportunity was closing because Alkaid could _feel_ them accelerating!

"Bombarda Maxima!" Pyrrha shouted desperately even as her spell did nothing. "Damn it! Come on! Faster 'Kaidy!"

Despite her best efforts, the rocks caught them just at the edge of safety. Thankfully, Alkaid reacted quickly.

" **Oval Protection!"** The sorceress cast hastily, conjuring a spherical barrier of magical energy that protected her and her wife from the impacting rocks. Said projecticles, or their creator at least, wasn't happy at being thwarted though and instead of giving up like good sports, instead upped the ante by transforming into large earthen claws that latched onto her barrier and tried to drag them back towards Othrys.

Alkaid was having none of that. Who knew what awful fate awaited them should they find themselves at the non-existent mercy of her grandfather and his Titanic cohorts? She thus poured ever more of her dwindling magical power into her platform. Despite her efforts though, the grip the rocky claws had on them was too strong and she couldn't move a single inch. In fact, it took everything she had just to remain where she was. That wouldn't last. Not as her reserves steadily depleted.

 _We've gotta try something reckless._

Quickly condensing their defenses into a smaller sphere, Alkaid began gathering her magic for another spell.

"Uh, 'Kaidy?" Pyrrha asked as she eyed the growing mass of magic that her wife was amassing.

The sorceress didn't answer as she primed the trigger in her mind.

"Grab hold!" Alkaid ordered, waiting only as long as it took for her wife to comply before she unleashed her spell. " **Divine Buster!** "

At her command, her massive beam of green energy shot both young women directly out of their little defensive shell and propelled them over the edge of Othrys' line of control at frightening speeds all while they fell towards the earth far below.

"I'll get the rocks! Alkaid catch us!" Pyrrha shouted, a smile in her voice as they fell through the air. "Time to turn you rocks into dust. Bombarda Maxima!"

One by one, Pyrrha shot down the rocks Kronos had sent after them like homing missiles. Waiting just as they crossed out of Othrys' protection, the redhead took them out like she was skeet shooting. Even as Alkaid barely managed to catch their fall by conjuring a new platform, one which teetered a bit from their rough landing but thankfully held.

Through it all, Alkaid could only take shuddering breaths and tried to calm her shivering hands. _That was close. Too close. I underestimated the Crooked One's power and pushed my luck too much. I guess I'm becoming overconfident again._

"Okay that's the last one. What now? Head back to Sonoma?"

"Or you two can come home early and help with the set up for the Solstice Ball," Melinoe suggested as she appeared from nowhere, an entourage of ghosts hovering around her. "Or get some more honeymoon time in? It's only a few more hours but that's better than going to Olympus like the other losers and spending time being ignored at the Council meeting."

"It _was_ a brief honeymoon." Alkaid said tiredly. She nevertheless affected some playfulness and winked at Pyrrha, who smiled in return.

"Could you send the questers a message that we're okay and to head to Olympus without us?" Pyrrha asked. "We don't want them to worry."

Melinoe looked a little put out to be running errands for Pyrrha, but sighed in resignation when Alkaid nodded in agreement to her wife's suggestion. "Oh fine! I'll send one of my ghosts to do it. Benny!"

"Yes, my lady," a spectre of a man in a black and white checkered suit said as he floated to the front of Melinoe's pack of attendant spirits.

"Go play courier."

"At once, my lady." The ghost said as he disappeared.

"Now that's done, time to head home." The goddess said as she snapped her fingers, teleporting herself, her retinue and the Potters away.

* * *

Some hours later, after a relaxing if not exactly restful time later, the Potters were getting ready for the Underworld's annual Solstice Ball. Alkaid with the ease of long practice had already finished slipping into her open back, black tulle evening gown, applying her makeup and fixing her hair into a artful bun. She was thus free to help Pyrrha put the finishing touches to her look. She had chosen an adventurous burgundy spaghetti strap V-neck side slit dress that showed plenty of leg, much to Alkaid's appreciation. Her hair was done up in a single long braid and with her wife's help was putting on the minimum of makeup.

"You should really let me put a bit more," Alkaid coaxed as she finished with applying the limited makeup her wife had wanted. "It'll make you look even better."

"Don't need it," Pyrrha reminded her. "Married remember. To _you_. Or are you saying I don't look pretty enough without makeup?"

"No, it's just if you're going to experiment with it then why not go all the way?"

"'Cos I hate the feel of too much of the stuff on my face?" Pyrrha said with a shrug. "Honestly don't know how you stand it."

"Practice."

Pyrrha just shook her head in exasperation.

"Mum, Mama, are you decent?" Mina shouted from outside the door to Alkaid's room, which her Father had kindly refurbished to reflect her new marital status by expanding and adding new furniture, particularly a nice king sized bed which the couple had happily tested out a little while ago. "Can I come in?"

"Come in, sweetie." Pyrrha called out for the both of them, causing their daughter to swing the door open excitedly and skip over to hug them both. She wore a white dress, that accentuated her fairy-like features and hinted at the innocence she clearly did not have.

"So who taught you not to just barge in?" Alkaid asked the goddess of serial killers suspiciously.

"Grandma Persephone! She promised that if I was on my best behaviour today she'd give me an extra present for the Solstice!" Mina declared unashamedly.

"So bribery works huh?" Pyrrha mused with a shake of her head. "Gotta keep that in mind for future reference."

Mina bobbed her head excitedly.

"Sorry to interrupt, my ladies," a ghoul servant said poking his head into the room. "But the festivities are about to begin and Lady Persephone requests that everyone head to the ballroom now."

"We'll be right there," Alkaid informed the servant politely as she began guiding her family to the party.

"So how have you been while we were away, Mina? Were you good for Baba Yaga?"

"Mina is always good." Mina insisted with a pout. "But yeah, I was extra good this time. I didn't want to spoil Mama and Mum's honeymoon by causing trouble."

"That's a good girl." Alkaid told her daughter with a smile.

"Of course. How else will I get siblings?" Mina nodded seriously.

"Patience, sweetie, patience." Alkaid said easily, causing her self-conscious wife to blush.

By this time, the Potters had reached the ballroom and was almost immediately met with an enthusiastic cry of "Big Sister!" from the di Angelo siblings as they raced over to hug Alkaid. She returned the hugs eagerly. She'd missed her younger siblings terribly over the last few days. A feeling that was made worse by not having had the chance to talk to them at the wedding due to her own giddiness and their own skittishness at the event.

As she pulled away from the hugs though Alkaid was puzzled by their appearance and couldn't help but wonder who had helped them pick out their clothes. _I know they couldn't have done it themselves. Sorry to say it, but neither of them have good enough fashion sense to have pulled this off on their own._

Bianca was looking adorable in a replica of Belle's iconic ballgown from Disney's _Beauty and the Beast_ but in maroon. It made her look like the princess she was and Alkaid heartily approved.

Nico, in turn, was smartly dressed in a tailored tuxedo, though he kept fiddling with the bowtie with a grimacing pout. The young boy looked incredibly dapper in the outfit and Alkaid had to fight the urge to squeal at how cute he was.

"I like the outfits," Pyrrha commented.

"Thanks, Pyrrha." Bianca said with a blush. "Lady Persephone helped us pick them out."

"Really?" Alkaid boggled. Her stepmother being so accommodating to her Father's bastards? Sure, she'd accepted _her_ but that was only because she practically raised her herself. What had changed?

"I did," the aforementioned goddess said as she slinked over in her dress of living flowers with a smile. "You weren't around to help them, so of course I stepped in. It's what mothers do."

"Thank you, stepmother."

"Mother," Persephone corrected with a smile.

Alkaid blinked, surprised. Pleasantly so.

"Yes, Mother."

"Good," Persephone said with a ecstatic smile. "Now run along for now. As much as I like to chat with you, I _am_ the hostess. I'll be sure to catch up with you later. Till then, have fun."

"Will do, Mother." Alkaid said, still feeling warm at being able to finally address her mother figure with the term of address she'd always thought she'd deserved.

"Come on, 'Kaidy," Pyrrha said gently guiding her wife and the rest of their little family away. "Why don't we grab something to eat, huh?"

Alkaid just nodded, still a little too overcome to speak.

The Potters were about halfway across the ballroom when with a high pitched squeal of "Mina~!" Makaria appeared out of nowhere and tackle hugged the aforementioned little goddess

"Hello Auntie Makaria," the silver haired girl chirped as the two goddesses happily rubbed their cheeks together.

"Makaria? Since when do you _like_ Mina?" Alkaid asked incredulously, remembering how her sister used to hate her daughter.

"What's not t-to like? Makaria slurred. "She's so, so cute! I just w-wanna squish and cuddle her all~ the time!"

"Uh, Makaria, are you drunk?" Pyrrha asked sounding shocked.

"Maybe~!" The goddess of blessed death replied as she picked Mina up and spun her around.

"Whee~!" The goddess of serial killers squealed happily.

"How are the ghost goats?" Alkaid asked with a quirked lip, amused by this turn of events.

"They are fine and cute. I have them wearing little bells." Makaria said with drunken pride.

"Maka? There you are!" A haggard looking Melinoe said as she floated over. "Oh, Al, the missus and the adorable little troglodytes too. Hey ya."

"Auntie Mel! Spin me around too!" Mina demanded popping in front of the goddess of ghosts and bouncing excitedly.

"Huh?" Melinoe asked only to have Makaria pick Mina up and demonstrate what the little girl meant, complete with happy squealing.

"Uh, sure. Later. After I'm good and wasted. Anyway, I gotta babysit the goat goddess."

"Goats!" Makaria cheered and stumbled away into the crowds.

"You got her drunk to attend the Ball, didn't you?" Alkaid accused knowingly. "You should know better. Maka is insane when drunk."

"Yeah, yeah," Melinoe said with a defeated sigh, pinching her nose. "At least she's too drunk to remember anything about Mina besides she's cute. Otherwise…"

"She'll be all scared and mean?" Mina asked with a pout.

"Yeah, sorry about that." Melinoe agreed. "You two just have conflicting domains. It's a thing with us gods."

"I know," Mina kicked the floor unhappily. "I don't have to like it. I even learned more about goats."

"You don't have to like it. It is what it is," the older goddess said before being distracted by something in the crowd of guests. "Oh Tartarus' teat, she's summoning them! Maka! Stop!"

"For the Herd!" Makaria's voice shouted enthusiastically from a short distance away.

"Big Sister, are our older big sisters crazy?" Bianca asked as Melinoe ran off to contain whatever madness, Alkaid refused to check herself, Makaria had unleashed.

"Yes." Alkaid sighed and patted Bianca on her shoulder, "Be sure to never follow their example."

Both di Angelos nodded.

 _What adorably obedient munchkins they are. Oh! I hope my future kids follow after them._

As they continued their trek to the refreshments, the family gave greetings and new year cheers to all the various guests they passed. The di Angelos were a little stiff about it, having little experience dealing with so many divinites in one place but the adults and Mina happily guided them through it all.

Finally making it to the food table, Alkaid ushered her entourage of children to go get something to eat which they eagerly obeyed. She and Pyrrha picked out their selection more sedately before hanging back to watch with amusement as the little ones piled their plates high with goodies.

Mina and Nico were arguing over what food was better, while Bianca hung back, enjoying her own meal as if was the best thing she'd ever had.

"'Kaidy, should we stop them?" Pyrrha asked while gesturing with her plate at Mina and Nico as their little argument devolved into an arm wrestling match.

"I don't think so," Alkaid waved away the question. "Let them be kids."

Pyrrha shot her a look that seemed to suggest she was worried she'd been replaced by a pod person, but Alkaid just sent her a smirk and nudged Bianca's foot.

"Must I?" The older di Angelo asked with a pout.

"Only if you want."

"That's just guilting me to do it." Bianca pointed out, her pout growing.

"Just because you've got a big sister now doesn't mean you're not still Nico's big sister," Alkaid reminded the girl. "He's _still_ your responsibility even if you can now share the burden."

Her cute little sister grumbled but complied. She put her utensils down, picked up the hem of her gown and moved to stop her niece and brother from coming to blows at a holiday party.

"That was good parenting," Mother said as she walked over with Father on her arm.

"Done playing hostess, Mother?" Alkaid asked tentatively, waiting for any sign that she would need to correct her term of address.

"For now," the goddess of springtime said with a tired smile. "Husband, why do we do this every year?"

"Because it rankles your father and allows the minor gods an outlet to vent their frustration without outright betrayal." Father reminded his wife.

"Politics," the Queen of the Underworld said with a long suffering sigh. "The bane of my existence."

"It's not _that_ bad," Alkaid countered.

"Yes, it is!" Both Mother and Pyrrha insisted, receiving matching raised eyebrows from their respective spouses.

"You only say that because you enjoy it, young lady."

"She's her Father's daughter." Pyrrha added with a nod.

"Is that a problem?" Father asked, with another raised eyebrow.

"No husband, Pyrrha is just pointing out a fact. Be nice to our daughter-in-law."

"Yes, dear." Father said, chastised.

Pyrrha grasped Alkaid's hand at this demonstration of acceptance by her in-laws and gave it a happy squeeze.

"So Father, how's the Council meeting going?" Alkaid asked, knowing that her Father was currently both here and on Olympus.

"It's finished, they're partying now." Father said grumpily. "If you call their uncivilized display of drunken mayhem a party that is. Thankfully, Dionysus, of all gods, had the good sense to sequester his Campers in a more tame section of things."

 _Mr. D isn't as irresponsible as everyone thinks. Just working with him at Camp a few days will show you that. He just wants people to think he is, because he hates being there._

"The questers are attending the party as well?" Pyrrha asked sounding surprised. Alkaid could empathise. That was highly unusual.

"Yes, to celebrate his little tree girl becoming a Hunter. Whoo." Hades rolled his eyes. "My brother could throw a party for paint drying."

"I wish I could dispute that, but unfortunately I'm afraid you're right." Mother said with a sigh at her father's frivolity.

"So anything happen that we should know besides Grace becoming a Hunter and taking herself out of the running for the Great Prophecy?"

"Besides Nightshade becoming a constellation? Nothing much." Father grumbled. "You did so much more than the other questers, even sunk the Titans' little cruise ship and they didn't even bother to reward you."

"Oh." Alkaid frowned, feeling sad for the long lived Hunter. It seemed her time had come as well. Speaking of which, she had a promise to keep. "Oh Father, speaking of Hunters. I made a promise with them that the girl who died on the quest would get priority to Elysium."

"I'll see that she's first on Charon's ferry once his shift starts later."

"Thank you, Father."

"Yes, yes," Father said waving the gratitude aside. "Don't worry about the Skeleton Warriors either, the stupid things tried to storm Olympus to get to their prey and got dealt with."

"Skeleton Warriors?" Alkaid asked, blinking in confusion. She vaguely recalled the other group of questers mentioning them, but hadn't run into them herself and so it hadn't really made an impression.

"Atlas sent them after the questers." Mother explained helpfully.

"Ouch," Pyrrha hissed. "Those are nasty."

"Yes, which is why you should be glad that they're not a problem anymore."

"Oh, Father!" Bianca said happily as she ran over from settling the dispute between Mina and Nico. The two having stopped fighting and were now happily sampling the food table together. "I got you something."

Fishing a small party popper out of a pocket in her dress, she presented it to Father.

"What is this?"

"It's a little something I whipped up with the magic Big Sister is teaching me. Chiron back at Camp thought it would be nice to show it to you as proof of my learning, kinda like a report card? He said it could double as a gift too since its seasonally themed."

Alkaid fought hard not to coo at the earnest look on Bianca's face. It was like something she would do as a young sorceress.

"That was very thoughtful of you, Bianca." Mother said as she nudged Father into picking up the popper. "And Chiron and Alkaid as well."

"Yes," the lord of the Underworld said distractedly as he pulled on the triggering string. Nothing happened though.

"Oh pooh!" Bianca said with a frown. "It's a dud. I was so sure it would work this time."

With a pat to her shoulder, Alkaid gave her an encouraging smile. "Trust me, the first time almost never goes as planned."

"Like your self cutting potatoes." Mother tittered, making Alkaid blush.

"It's not my fault vegetation does not agree with my magic."

"Ah, the excuses. I miss those days." Hades chuckled.

"I have a feeling I _need_ to hear this story." Pyrrha said with a mischievous grin.

"Daughter-in-law, there are many stories I'm sure you'll enjoy hearing." Mother said with a mischievous smile that left Alkaid wanting to die in a hole. Well, the Pit _was_ only a few miles away.

Thankfully for Alkaid this was the time that Bianca's little gift decided it was time to go off. In an explosion of color and with a dozen shooting stars as backdrop, a series of dark purple holograms shot out of the popper and spelled out 'Happy Winter Solstice!' even as a recording of Bianca and Nico happily shouting the same filled the room.

This startled the whole ballroom for a moment, before it was filled with applause. Makaria let out a snorting giggle as other laughter and merriment followed.

"Was that Makaria?" Father asked concerned. "Is she drunk?"

"Yes," Alkaid, Mother, and Pyrrha all said at once.

"It's Melinoe's fault."

Mother's clarification just added to Father's alarm and he looked ready to bolt over to make sure Makaria was alright.

"Relax, husband." Mother told the god sternly. "Mel is watching out for her. She'll be fine."

"That's more worrying though!"

"Mel isn't that bad," Alkaid loyally defended her big sister. "She knows when to be responsible."

"Why am I not comforted?"

"Because this is Melinoe?" Pyrrha asked. "Really Lord Hades, she was watching out for Makaria just fine earlier. I think they'll be alright."

Father looked skeptical and shot Bianca a questioning look. His youngest daughter replied with a hesitant nod.

"I hope you ladies are correct," Father said resigned.

"We are. Trust us." Mother assured him.

"Hi Father," Nico greeted as he finally made his way over after demolishing everything on the food table and with an equally gluttonous Mina in tow.

"Hello Nico," Father greeted pleasantly.

"Father, I just noticed something." Nico said as he eyed their gathered family. "Is it just me or are practically everyone in the family girls? I'm feeling a little outnumbered here."

Father grumbled, "Son, suck it up. I've been dealing with it for millenia. You will have to deal with it too."

"Well, it _is_ true." Mother said with an amused smile shared with the rest of the present ladies of their House. "I mean it's even the subject of a popular joke among the gods."

"...What joke?" Father asked cautiously as he stepped away from his wife with a wary look in his eyes.

"That instead of the House of Hades, we should be called the House of Ladies." Mother told the children with a teasing smile.

"Oh! I love that joke!" Makaria said popping out of nowhere to drape herself drunkenly over Mother's shoulders before bursting into drunken giggling.

"I've heard it too." Melinoe said as she walked over, with a grin at Father's expense. "My ghosts hear it all the time too, might I add."

"Oh no no, we are not letting that stick!" The Lord of the Underworld cried out unhappily, looking horrified, in defiance of the way that his family were all snickering at his expense.

"Ugh! Nico!"

"Yes, Father?" The sole son of Hades asked confused by the sudden summons.

"We're going to kill something epic and prove the manliness of our house. Come along!"

"Uh okay?" A still confused Nico replied. "Can we get some of the hot cocoa first? I haven't tried any yet."

"...Yes." Hades said with a sigh, even as he pushed his son along.

The various ladies of his House just chuckled in amusement at the whole scene.

* * *

 **Omake: Not so Silent Night**

As the Potters rematerialized from Melinoe's teleport after their narrow escape from Mount Othrys, they found themselves in Alkaid's bedroom in the Underworld. It had been completely remodeled though. It was at least twice the size it used to be with new furniture added. A whole bunch of which Pyrrha recognized as stuff from the guest bedroom she used whenever she used to visit the Underworld. If she'd hazard a guess, her clothes and other things had also been moved in accordingly too.

"Looks like your Father did me a solid," Pyrrha noted as she finished her quick survey of the room.

"Well, you are his daughter-in-law now," Alkaid said as she sat on their new king sized bed and leaned back.

Sitting down next to her, Pyrrha couldn't help gasping as the mattress sunk in and adjusted itself perfectly to her weight. It was fantastic, even better than the one they had back at home.

"This bed-"

"Is insanely comfortable," 'Kaidy agreed. "And soothing."

"Are you still shook up about what happened?"

"Did you feel the strength of his presence? Of course, I am."

Pyrrha had. The presence of the King of the Titans when he'd stirred had pressed down on her like a ton of bricks. It had driven the air from her lungs, making breathing difficult and filled her with a sense of dread that caused her to break out in a cold sweat. Though since she didn't seem to be the target of the Crooked One's ire, it seemed she'd gotten off lightly.

Taking hold of Alkaid's trembling hands in her own, the daughter of Ares gave them a comforting squeeze. "Relax, we're safe now. He can't hurt you."

"Yeah, 'Kaidy relax." Melinoe said in her head, and only her head, materializing above them in midair. "Wicked ol' Grandfather can't hurt you here. We won't let him."

"Thanks Mel, Py." Alkaid said with a genuine smile. "So Mel, what's brought you."

"Just wanted to let you lovebirds know that the Ball is in four hours and Father _expects_ you to be there. _Both of you._ So whatever you do, be ready by then."

"Will do, sister." 'Kaidy said with a nod.

"Have fun," the goddess teased as her head vanished, leaving the newlyweds alone.

"So we have four hours to get ready huh?" Pyrrha asked, her mind thinking on what they needed to do to prepare for the festivities.

She didn't get far before Alkaid used their still joined hands to pull her flush against her.

"I can think of something to do to fill all that free time," the sorceress whispered huskily against the increasingly flushed skin of Pyrrha's neck.

What followed was a slow, tender coupling as the two women made sweet love to each other. Lavishing their spouse in love and comfort, something they both needed, even Pyrrha, after the trying time at Mount Othrys. One round was not enough though, and they were gearing up for another, more playful go at it.

Which was why Pyrrha found herself in the bathroom, waiting for Alkaid's permission to reenter the bedroom. Her wife had a 'present' for her and was setting it up.

 _I wonder what it could be._ The redhead thought excitedly, her imagination jumping from one insane idea to another. It was hard to predict with 'Kaidy. Her bedroom presents could range from risque to downright Melinoe levels of debauchery if left unchecked.

Not that there was anything wrong with that of course. Well the former at least, the latter… Well, let's just say that going overboard was a charitable description at times.

"Pyrrha~!" The husky voice of Alkaid called out, "Come on in~!"

Bracing herself for anything, the daughter of war compiled.

She was greeted with the sight of Alkaid lying on the bed, in a relaxed, sensual repose. That was normal. What _wasn't_ normal were the colorful red and green ribbons that hugged her hourglass figure like a second skin. She was technically fully covered up, but the ribbons were so completely flush with her skin that they left nothing to the imagination. All in all, it made for the most breathtaking view.

"Come unwrap your present, Py." Alkaid cooed, invitingly, cocking her finger in a come hither gesture.

Swallowing hard, Pyrrha was more than happy to oblige.

* * *

 **Done and done! Thanks to the team of Nameless and Axios as always!**

 **I know honeymoons are supposed to be longer, but time crunch and all. I'm sure they'll have another one once the war lets up.**

 **Nameless: Besides there was Quality over Quantity factors involved here. So it wasn't quite as bad as it seemed.**

 **Alkaid has demonstrated just what she's great at, army killing. It also makes her Nuke comments totally justified. That ending chase was fun, plus, using a blaster spell to propel themselves? Classic!**

 **Nameless: Indeed. The scene also shows that Al has a problem with overconfidence which creeps up on her repeatedly as she grows a little too comfortable with things. Expect that to be a running theme. It might not be her Fatal Flaw,** _ **that's**_ **the way she can't let grudges fester and must act on them as swiftly as she can, but it's definitely a flaw that can get her killed.**

 **Of course those holiday feels were fun, For the Herd, Makaria for the Herd indeed. Hope you enjoyed the family time because the House of Hades always makes me laugh with their antics.**

 **Nameless: I totally claim credit for that line. For the Herd!**

 **And woo-wee, dat Omake. Our newlyweds sure know what they need to do to get into the holiday spirit!**

 **Nameless: Indeed. Quite adventurous too, since to my understanding some of the things they try out (you lot will need to read the uncensored AO3 version to see what I mean) are quite advanced. Well, they have been together for years so I'm pretty confident in saying that they're up to it.**

 **You know what to do, smash that review button and tell us what ya love! No flames and peace off my peeps!**


	22. Chapter 22

**Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson or Harry Potter.**

 **Consul of the Underworld: Grinding Phase**

 **Chapter Twenty Two: Having All the Bases**

 **Beta: ShadowofAxios**

* * *

It was a beautiful June 15, 2008 and the perfect weather for one of the biggest days in Alkaid's life, her graduation from Stanford. Despite her joy at the occasion, the daughter of Hades was immensely glad that the ceremony had finally ended, at two and a half hours of speeches and other, in her opinion, pointless pageantry, she was finally allowed to file down the central aisle alongside her peers as a graduate.

In her cap and gown, she wandered over to where the families of the graduates had been seated for the ceremony and found to her surprise not just all the godly members of the House of Hades and her immediate family plus Jane like she expected, but also Athena and Auntie Hera. With the exception of her di Angelo siblings who had been refused permission to leave Camp by Mr. D as they were required to help prepare Camp for the summer campers that would arrive in the first weeks of June, it was a full house and then some.

Her Father and Auntie were chatting over something in hushed whispers, dark looks in their eyes as her Father scowled in annoyance over whatever was being discussed. Athena was speaking with Jane over military hardware apparently. Makaria was cowering a little, looking at the crowds warily and clutching Melinoe desperately. Considering her agoraphobia that she was here at all was something Alkaid appreciated immensely.

For her part, Melinoe seemed to be eying the various graduates with a glint in her eye as she protectively warded off any curious glances at their rattled sister. Even Mother was getting in on the action, though her looks were a lot more mild and the majority of her attention was focused on comforting her middle daughter by rubbing her back tenderly.

"Mum! Congratulations!" Mina cheered as she popped out of thin air, literally, and wrapped Alkaid up in a tight hug. A soft gasp escaped the demigoddess at the strength her little girl used in the hug.

"Mina, Mum needs to breathe." Pyrrha reminded their overexcited daughter teasingly as she strolled up behind the girl. "And congrats 'Kaidy, you're a Ivy League grad now."

"So I am," Alkaid shot back once Mina had let go enough for her to catch her breath. Once her breathing was under control, she pecked her lover on the lips before giving Mina one on her forehead. "I have both my girls here, that makes this day even grander."

"Aw! So sappy, but thank you." Pyrrha grinned teasingly as she wrapped her arms around Alkaid's left. Mina immediately taking her right.

"Mum, we should go somewhere fancy to eat. We can get cake!" Mina beamed up at her, her yellow-green eyes going wide at the mention of cake.

The family of three chatted as they returned to the location of the house of Hades, gandering the attention of them and their guests.

"Congratulations, Alkaid," Athena said stepping forward with Jane in tow, though the mortal was smart enough to let the goddess speak first. "You have proven yourself as a true scholar."

"Thank you for the compliment, Lady Athena." Alkaid replied diplomatically. She wasn't sure she was a scholar in the mold that the goddess of wisdom implied. She was no academic. As much as she enjoyed learning new things, she did so with a mind towards applying them towards practical uses rather than for the sake of pure study.

"As polite as ever I see," the matron of Athens said with a smile and offering her hand.

Alkaid was startled for a moment. A goddess offering a mortal, even a demigod, a handshake? That was amazingly generous!

She quickly overcame her shock and returned the gesture by shaking Athena's hand. As their hands touched, a tingle passed from the goddess' body into her own.

 _May my blessings be upon you, daughter of Hades._ The goddess of war's voice boomed in her mind. _May you always find a path to victory no matter your endeavours. And a word of warning: be wary of Hera's intentions. Her words are honeyed but more often than not poisoned._

With her words said, the goddess released Alkaid's hand and after offering her one last warm nod, she teleported away.

Jane stepped forward to fill the opening even as Alkaid tried to process what Athena had said but before her mother-in-law could say anything, she was preempted.

"And the woman of the hour arrives." Auntie Hera stated as she walked over. She was wearing a simple gown of powered blue, yet the Queen of Heaven made it look like something peeled off a mosaic. "So rare to have a half-blood reach such an age. Brother, you've outdone yourself this time."

"Most of the work was her own, Sister." Father smoothly replied as he walked over with a rare soft smile on his pale features. The warmth in his eyes caused a small smile to appear on Alkaid's own face as she gave him a quick hug. One that he readily returned.

"We just guided her along," Persephone said, following up where Father left off. On the surface, her words seemed pleasant enough but knowing the goddess most of her life like she had, Alkaid could hear an undertone of annoyance as she offered a forced smile to Auntie Hera.

Her tone turned more genuine however as she gave Alkaid a small hug. Happily accepting the embrace, Alkaid luxuriated in how the sweet scent of Spring wafted off her mother and filled her nose. "I'm very proud of you, Daughter."

"I-I'm proud of you too, Sister," Makaria said as she came over behind their mother.

"Thank you, Maka," Alkaid said as she pulled her usually shut-in sister into a hug. "And thank you for coming today."

"Wouldn't have missed it for the w-world." The goddess of blessed death assured her sister with a small stammer.

"And I made sure that you didn't." Melinoe said with a roguish grin that earned her a smack on the arm from their Mother. "Hey, it's the truth!"

"No need to boast about it," the goddess of spring reminded her eldest daughter sternly. "Now go give your sister your congratulations."

"Oh, sure. Guess it's my turn. Congrats 'Kaidy." The goddess of ghosts said as she pulled her baby sister into a hug.

"Thank you, Sister."

"So, since mom's babysitting Maka. I'mma go see a few grads about… plans."

"I-I don't need a babysitter!" Makaria cried out indignantly as she clung closer to Persephone.

Melinoe patted her head with a teasing grin as she walked off and started to chat up a group of young men and women with a saucy grin.

"Hades, your eldest daughter is… Polite language fails me." Auntie Hera said looking outright offended by Melinoe's behavior.

Hades gave his sister a dry stare, "I've heard it all before. No words needed. As long as she's having a good time… I assume it is all that matters."

"Quite." Auntie Hera agreed with a quirked lip. "As much as I would love to stay longer, duty calls. Matters to settle, tempers to cool. Alkaid, once more congratulations and enjoy your celebration. Ta-Ta."

In a shower of feathers of every color imaginable, the goddess of marriage departed to deal with whatever matters she deemed worthy of her attention.

"Okay, now that all the gods are _finally_ done." Jane said, looking at the remaining gods with a accusatory glare, all of whom sheepishly avoided her gaze. "Congratulations, Alkaid. You've done well for yourself."

"Thank you, Jane." Alkaid replied with a smile.

"Mum, Mama! I'm hungry!" Mina suddenly declared out of nowhere.

"You're always hungry," Pyrrha teased back, even as Alkaid shook her head in fond exasperation.

"But I am," the silver haired little goddess insisted. "Can we go eat lunch already? And cake? A big one?"

"Are we sure baking isn't a sub-domain of hers?" Persephone asked Father with a mirthful smile.

"I checked with Betty Crocker, it isn't." Father assured Mother, ignoring how both Potters hurriedly tried to shush him the moment he started mentioning the name of the goddess of baked goods' name.

"Betty Crocker? Betty Crocker!? Where is she? I'll stabbity stab that meanie!" Mina declared, summoning a pair of her knives.

 _Shit! How to fix this?_ Alkaid thought desperately as she conceived and discarded one useless plan after another.

Much to both Potter women's relief the situation was defused by the most unlikely of sources.

"Mina Potter! Clam down right this instant." Jane commanded her granddaughter sternly. "Or no dessert. For a week!"

"B-But Grammy!" Mina whined, her knives dissolving into a teddy bear that she clutched tightly as she attempted to look as cute and innocent as possible to her grandmother.

"A. Week." Jane pressed sternly.

The goddess of serial killers could only look at the ground in shame and give a small nod.

 _As expect of an experienced mother. I might have to pick her brain some time with how unruly Mina can get. Mayhaps we're spoiling her too much._

"Now then," Persephone said, sporting an amused smile. "Shall we head out for lunch? Hades' paying so feel free to splurge."

"I am?" Father asked, blinking in surprise for a moment before Mother leveled him with a look that had him quickly changing his tune. "Oh, yes, ahem, I am. So, Alkaid, where would you like to go?"

Tapping her chin in thought, Alkaid smiled brilliantly at her Father, "Well, I'm in a mood for some French cuisine, so how about Maison Pic?"

The mere mention of one of the most expensive restaurants in the world had quite the impact on the Lord of the Dead. The souls in his suit stopping their eternal tormented writhing to all recoil in horror even as their tormentor's pale face turned haunted.

* * *

After the grand celebration, and some cuddle time for the young married couple, the Potter family returned to Camp Half-Blood. Of course, having to wear the orange nightmare of a shirt once again nearly brought Alkaid to tears. And no, not even Pyrrha's praise at how it hugged her figure flatteringly could make up for how much she hated the horrible garment. Thankfully, as Assistant Activities Director she didn't strictly need to wear it all the time. She was staff after all, not a Camper and they had their own rules.

These thoughts were set aside as they teleported into the Big House's living room only to be greeted with an unfamiliar occupant seated at the coffee table going over some papers. He was a man who appeared to be in his fifties, with short gray hair and a clipped gray beard. He was dressed in black mountain-climbing pants that he matched with a bronze breastplate strapped over his Camp Half-Blood t-shirt and a sword on the couch next to him.

He was more than met the eye though as he instantly triggered Alkaid's ferrokinetic and necromantic senses at the same time.

"Mr. D!" Alkaid shouted, in as calm a tone she could. "Who's this?"

"Camp's new trainer," the god of wine and Camp's Director said as he popped in beside her. "He goes by Quintus."

"He's an automaton." Alkaid observed immediately. "An ensouled one."

It was obvious to her as a daughter of Hades. The metallic ore beneath his false skin was clear as day to her ferrokensis while his soul, weathered with an age almost as old as Chiron's, sang to her necromancy. Just being close to him, she knew that he was long past due to stand before the judges of the Underworld but had yet to do so.

A tremor of anger thrummed through her body at the insult that this automaton represented. He offended her to the very core. It was like Riddle, trying to escape from the natural balance of life and death.

"Cool your blood, girl." Mr. D told her in a whisper. "I know exactly what he is and I don't like it one bit either, but we need him."

The brunette spat out, her angry words as hot as hellfire. "What right does he claim to hide from his ride across the Styx?"

"What part about us needing him do you not understand, Alkaid?" Mr. D hissed, starting to get angry. "Unless you suddenly developed some actual skill at swordplay, we need a swordmaster and general combat trainer and Quintus here fits the bill."

Calming down, trying to get her heart rate under control, she bowed her head to the god, "My apologies, Mr. D. his presence… unsettles me."

"As it should, as a daughter of Hades," the ensouled automaton said as it came over. "Rest assured though Miss Potter that I do not intend to flee Thanatos' pursuit forever."

"Hmph, we will see I suppose." Alkaid stated, doubt clear in her voice as she clamped down her anger at the abomination before her.

"I assure you that once my task is complete, I will be more than happy to embrace my end."

"And what task is that?" Alkaid pressed, her smile friendly as a shark.

"Let's just say I offended a god once upon a time and am wise enough to not die until I've made amends," Quintus offered. "You know how it would turn out if I didn't. The god would almost certainly barter with Lord Hades to make my afterlife quite unpleasant."

 _Calm yourself. You are above such anger, Alkaid. Deep breath, five in. Five out. And smile,_ Alkaid told herself as she smothered her growing ire once again, "Let's hope you are worth it then, Quintus."

"And you cheated death, pissing off the House of Hades and the other Underworld gods in the process in order to avoid getting into trouble with the one god you first offended?" Pyrrha asked, scornfully. "Sounds like such a _bright_ move, genius."

Quintus' smile strained as he looked at her lover in an unfriendly way. "Genius comes with madness one would say."

"More like stupidity," Mr. D commented with a snort of disagreement. "But that's enough time wasted yapping away. Quintus get back to whatever you were working on, Penelope head back to your Cabin and get your siblings in shape, and you Alkaid go check in with Chiron."

Obeying the god's dismissal, Alkaid left the Big House with Pyrrha. Chiron would be at the Archery Range at this hour after all, so she could walk her wife to Cabin 5 before heading over to look for the centaur.

"'Kaidy, whatever you're thinking of doing about that Quintus guy, don't do it." Pyrrha told her as they walked out of the Big House towards the Cabin area. "Mr. D is right. We need him. With the Titans liable to attack any day now, we need all the help we can get."

"Whatever do you mean, love?" Alkaid flashed her a sunny smile of innocence.

"...As cute a look as that is, 'Kaidy, seriously. Don't do anything crazy."

"Fine," Alkaid said huffing in frustration. "I won't do anything 'crazy'. I'll just try and find out who he really is."

"Whatcha mean?"

"Quintus is obviously not his real name."

"I get that, but how will finding out who he really is help us at all?"

Her smile turned wicked and sharp, "We've been hearing chatter from the Titans' side that they're planning an attack on Camp Half-Blood right? And suddenly this guy shows up? Doesn't anyone find that suspicious?"

"We did," Chiron's voice suddenly said from just behind them, causing both women to spin to face the ancient immortal. "But he passed all our tests easily. Almost too easily."

"What do you mean?" Alkaid asked, shooting a triumphant look at Pyrrha that at least someone shared her suspicions about Quintus.

"It was almost as if he was familiar with our tests of loyalty. Familiar enough to fake his way through them."

"But did he fake it?" Pyrrha insisted.

"It was difficult to tell." Chiron frowned, "We had a few of Lord Apollo's children around. Some quite good at discerning truths, but Quintus passed their suspicions."

"How?"

"I have the transcripts of the interviews if you'd like to see them," Chiron offered.

"I would."

Pyrrha looked at the Activities Director and his assistant and shook her head. "You guys go do that and be all amateur Sherlock Holmes. Me? I'm gonna go catch up with my siblings. See you two later."

With a wave, the daughter of Ares walked off.

"Chiron, you were saying something about some transcripts?"

"Right this way, Alkaid."

* * *

"Isn't this so much better, Quintus?" Alkaid asked the Combat Trainer smugly, as the Camp's staff sat in the Big House's living room and watched on Hephaestus TV as the Campers faced off against their latest training exercise.

It had originally been devised by said ensouled automaton to be a simple case of releasing some random monsters against the Campers and seeing how they fared, but Alkaid had taken one look at his proposal and put her foot down as Assistant Activities Director. Modifying the hell out of it, she transformed it from a standard free for all into a proper learning experience for the Campers. One in which they were forced to face off an organised army of automatons that she'd arranged to be loaned from Lord Hephaestus in exchange for the broadcast rights to this unscheduled event and a small payment from the Camp's accounts as a deposit.

"It'll bear some fruit I suppose." Quintus said with indifference. Alkaid knew she stung his pride a tad from the sheer scope of her overhaul.

"I should hope so," Chiron chimed in from his enchanted wheelchair, "This exercise is costing a sizable chunk of our budget for the year."

"Ha! Look at Alison and Philip running away scared from those clockwork scorpions!" Mr. D said, sounding immensely amused as he pointed to Annabeth and Percy squeezing into a crack between two boulders in the pile of rocks known as Zeus' Fist to evade a trio of giant scorpion automatons armed with heat ray stingers.

Perhaps Alkaid took a tad too much pleasure in the panicked look on the daughter of Athena's face. Though after her screw up during the Quest for Artemis, it felt justified. She was worried for Percy though.

She really shouldn't have, as soon practically the whole Camp descended on the scorpions trapping two of their own. Within minutes, and working with solid teamwork they managed to take down the automatons and pulled Annabeth and Percy out.

Percy was acting strangely though. He was gesturing wildly back at the gap in the rocks he'd just climbed out of and saying something that seemed to set all the Campers on edge.

"What is he saying?" Alkaid asked, as she tried and failed to read his lips. Percy's animated flailing as he talked, hindering her attempts to do so. "Can we up the volume so we can hear?"

"Give me a moment," Chiron said as he adjusted the remote. "There we go."

" _-I'm telling you! It's an entrance to the Labyrinth. Annabeth tell them._ "

" _There's a Delta sign, clearly Daedalus' trademark."_ The daughter of Athena nodded.

Alkiad was stunned by the magnitude of Percy and Annabeth's discovery. If there was an entrance to the Labyrinth then it would be-

" _It's the perfect vector for an invasion by the Titans._ " Pyrrha noted out in the forest. " _This is bad. Very bad._ "

The daughter of Hades glanced at Chiron and she saw he too shared the look of dawning horror as the reality of the situation set in. The Camp had a giant vulnerability in its defenses. Even Mr. D seemed ruffled by this revelation, as the hand that held his ubiquitous Diet Coke can tightened enough to deform the can. The only one not reacting as expected was Quintus. He like the others were unnerved, but his reaction was extreme. Too extreme. He looked mortified.

"Something you want to tell the class, Quintus?" Mr. D asked, picking up on the man's overreaction. "Or should I say Daedalus?"

 _So he is Daedalus after all._ Alkaid thought even as the man in question reacted to the accusation.

"What!?" The ensouled automaton shrieked as he jumped to his feet. "How did you know!?"

"Your arrogance becomes you, _boy_." Mr. D sneered, his purple eyes swirling clockwise with power. "Did you forget that I am a _god_? A member of the Olympian Twelve? Your little tricks might have worked to hide your identity but it's not foolproof."

"So you've known all along?" Daedalus asked, still tense and eying the god warily.

"Not at all." Mr. D admitted with a casual shrug. "As I said, your tricks worked. But it isn't hard to eliminate the possible candidates who could produce a body like you have and even fewer with a reason to use it. Though I'll admit Alkaid and Chiron did most of that work."

"You were either Daedalus or Talos." Alkaid explained. "Both great craftsman of the mythic age but whose souls have not yet reached the Underworld."

"We were thinking you were Daedalus though," Chiron confessed. "After all, we are fairly sure Talos' soul merged with his masterpiece that bears his name due to all the fervor he put into the colossus and became a monster."

"But we weren't sure," Mr. D added with a cruel smile. "At least, not until you outed yourself just now."

"I really should have just kept my mouth shut shouldn't I?"

"You should have." Alkaid agreed with a nod.

"Now that you know who I am, what will you do?" Daedalus asked, his fingers gripping the arm rests of his chair.

"Nothing," a new regal female voice said suddenly. "At least not without my input."

Everyone turned to its source to see Athena standing in all her glory. She was wearing full hoplite armor and was equipped with both her spear and the dreaded Aegis shield. All in all, she looked every bit the goddess of war that she was.

"Ah! Athena. Punctual as always." Mr. D said with a sigh. "You're here to take him off our hands?"

Daedalus looked like he wanted to die then and there.

"Indeed," Athena said with a nod. "Thank you, Dionysius, Chiron, Alkaid, but I shall take it from here. My son has much to answer to me for."

"I understand, Lady Athena, but..." Alkaid said hesitantly, continuing only when the war goddess nodded for her to do so. "Well, we need Daedalus' help with the coming invasion through _his_ labyrinth."

"Actually, I can't help you with that. Not from here." The inventor said sheepishly, a nervous smile on his fake face. "If I got back to my workshop I _might_ be able to modify its pathways to stop it leading into Camp, but from here I can't do anything to it at all."

"Then I have a solution," Athena cut in before anything else could be said. "After I've had words with my wayward offspring, I shall deposit him in his workshop and he'll do what he just suggested. How does that sound?"

Chiron and Mr. D both looked to Alkaid.

 _I know I was the one to speak up, but seriously can you two not pick up some of the slack?_

"That's agreeable, my lady."

"Very well, come along Daedalus." Athena said, before without waiting for a reply she teleported herself and her son away.

"Well, that happened." Chiron said after a long moment of confused silence. He slumped into his wheelchair, looking drained. "Now what shall we do?"

"We wait and hope that Daedalus keeps his word." Alkaid pointed out. "Or is able to. He didn't seem sure he actually could."

"Not confident Athena will make him do as he agreed?" Mr. D asked with mirth.

"Honestly? Not really. No offense to Lady Athena but Daedalus is wily enough to elude her for millenia. If he wants to somehow worm his way out of his promise, he'll find a way."

"You two should probably prepare Camp for the worst then." Mr. D chuckled as he sipped from a new can of Diet Coke.

* * *

"So, explain to me why we're going into the Labyrinth to find Daedalus again?" Percy asked for the umpteenth time as he, Grover and Tyson readied themselves to accompany Annabeth as she led them on a quest to accomplish the aforementioned task.

"Because despite promising to disconnect Camp from the Labyrinth when Mom came to pick him up, he hasn't done it yet." Annabeth explained patiently.

"He seems the type to shirk responsibility and not own up to his mistakes." Alkaid remarked, looking towards Annabeth for a brief moment, as she helped the questers shrink down some of their supplies to better fit into their travel packs.

"Yeah, I got that bit. The part I don't get is why nobody thought to I dunno get him to swear on the Styx to make sure he actually did it?"

"And possibly offend Lady Athena by making demands of her son?" Chiron countered as she watched over the quester's preparations. "Besides, it all happened very quickly and we weren't prepared."

"It's not like we expected Lady Athena to just pop in out of nowhere like that," Alkaid added.

"I'm not blaming you guys," Percy said as he finished packing his bag and took a step atop it. "I'm just wondering why Athena didn't do it."

"She probably tried," Annabeth defended her mother loyally. "But Daedalus is slippery. Very slippery. He probably found a loophole or something."

"And now we've gotta go force him to keep his promise? This sucks." Percy said with a sigh.

Alkaid patted him on the shoulder, smiling down at him, "At least he didn't integrate himself into Camp too much. Who knows what would have happened if he was staying here for a prolonged time."

Grover chimed in, "Not for lack of trying. Didn't he give you that Stygian Ice Whistle, Percy? For summoning Mrs. O'Leary?"

Alkaid pursed her lips, probably annoyed that Daedalus tamed a hellhound.

"If Daedalus has turned against us, is it safe for Percy to use the whistle or trust the hellhound?" Annabeth asked worriedly as she apparently just thought on the matter.

"It's fine," Alkaid reassured her cousin, patting him on the shoulder. "I've checked both and they're safe."

"Huh? Really? Does that mean Deadalus didn't betray us after all?"

"We honestly don't know Percy," Chiron said with a sigh, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "All we know is that we need to check in with him and get him to fulfill his promise ASAP. The fate of Camp Half-Blood could depend on it."

"Got it," Percy said with a nod.

"If that's the case, then let's head out." Annabeth ordered as she led the way down into the Labyrinth through the entrance in Zeus' Fist.

Percy let Grover and Tyson go ahead of him, taking the time to shoot Alkaid one last look.

"We'll get the job done, Alkaid." He reassured his cousin and mentor. "Keep Camp standing till we get back?"

"Would I do anything else?" She smiled in a haughty fashion that seemed to just fit her.

Nodding in satisfaction that he was leaving Camp in good hands, he descended after the rest of his team. They had a mission to complete.

* * *

While Percy and co. were out trying to get Daedalus to seal off his Labyrinth, Alkaid focused on preparing to defend Camp should they fail. Leaving the setup of the defenses to the children of Ares and Athena who were competing to lay out the most comprehensive network of trenches they could had led to the creation of an impressively complex network of pillboxes armed with machine guns courtesy of Jane, and hidden catapults to provide some artillery support. On her part, she'd put up a whole series of wards in a series of defensive lines within Camp for use should the enemy breach its primary wards.

With her contribution to the actual defenses already done, Alkaid had shifted her focus to overseeing the Campers' training, specifically those of her siblings. Off to one side, she watched as Pyrrha was giving Nico a pummel- ahem, some tips on CQC. Smirking at how her wife was literally beating skill into her little brother, Alkaid turned her attention to Bianca instead.

"So Bianca, are you comfortable with the new school of magic I've been teaching you?"

"I guess?" Bianca hedged, fidgeting a little. "I mean, it fits me since it uses shadows which I'm good at controlling and it keeps me away from the fighting which I like, but, um, does it have to involve curses?"

"How else would you hurt your enemies from range then? You've not exactly shown a proficiency for bombardment magic."

"Um, I guess you have a point. But do the curses have to be so… lethal?" Bianca asked nervously.

Alkaid just blinked in confusion. "Bianca, you do realize you're supposed to use them against things that are trying to kill you, right?"

"I, I do get it! But there are going to be other demigods fighting for the Titans, right?"

"And? They're the enemy and they're trying to kill you, what makes them any different from a monster? Or do you honestly think they'll show you any more mercy than a Laistrygonian?"

The olive skinned girl looked down, the grass under her feet blackening, "Y-You're right. I can't go into a fight thinking like this."

Alkaid frowned but nodded. _I'm going to have to arrange some battle conditioning for Bianca it seems. We can't afford her freezing up in an actual battle._

"So, um, Big Sister, I have a contract with a familiar I want to seal today. You said, you want to be there when I did, so, uh, could we do it now?"

"What kind of familiar do you have in mind?"

"A Faceless." Bianca explained, some excitement coming from her now. "I'm thinking that it could help me out with its psychic powers."

"A good idea." Alkaid agreed as she recalled all she knew about the enigmatic creatures of shadow. "Go ahead then."

Nodding, Bianca used her umbrakinesis to form a magical circle that Alkaid proudly noted matched up perfectly with what was required.

 _And she did it without a reference. Impressive._

"Oh, mysterious Faceless, shadow wraiths of the deep darkness. Hear my call, and come to my side. I, Bianca di Angelo, daughter of Hades summons you to strike a bargain. Heed my call and come!"

For a moment nothing happened and then suddenly darkness spilled out of Bianca's magical circle. The unnatural murk poured out like a geyser which quickly calmed, leaving in its wake a truly strange creature. The Faceless, for that was what it was, had a humanoid upper body but instead of having legs it had hundreds, perhaps thousands, of writhing tentacles. From its back grew a pair of majestic membranous wings that were studded with glowing orb like growths and its face resembled nothing more than a blank ovoid mask. Its whole body was a dark purple in colour with the exception of its bone white face and was cloaked in an aura of ever shifting darkness.

"What bargain, girl, have you summoned me forth to make?" The creature asked in a voice that echoed with a quality that hinted at a age beyond mortal understanding.

"Faceless, I seek to make you my familiar. What do you deem necessary for this bargain to be fair?" Bianca asked in a pleasant regal tone that Alkaid mentally applauded her sister for being able to maintain.

Silence permeated the area as the Faceless simply stared. Then the dark creature spoke.

"I want three."

Bianca blinked in confusion, "Three what?"

"Three souls for my service."

The younger daughter of Hades shifted uncomfortably. "How about all the souls of the enemies you deal the killing blow for me?"

"And if you judiciously avoid using me to kill?" The Faceless asked suspiciously, perhaps picking up Bianca's aversion to killing from her mind. The creatures were renowned for their psychic prowess after all.

"I promise not to do that?" Bianca flashed a nervous smile.

"Acceptable. Though you'll need to throw in something extra then."

"What?" Bianca asked, clearly at a lost.

"An autographed photo of Lord Hades using his Helm to its fullest." The shadow creature said with all seriousness.

"What? Why?"

"For my collection of course! All of us Faceless adore Shadow Lords and Lord Hades is one of the greatest of their number. Having something like that to serve as the centerpiece will complete my collection dedicated to their glory!"

Bianca just looked lost as she turned to Alkaid, "Sister! Do we have photos of Father?"

"Depends. What kind?" Alkaid asked, pretending she hadn't heard the whole conversation and hiding her amusement at the odd turn it'd taken.

"Of him using his Helm to the max?" Bianca said with a pout at being teased. She looked adorable like that and Alkaid had to resist the urge to pinch her cheeks.

"Several," Alkaid said with a grin.

The Italian demigoddess tilted her head in confusion, "Why do we have so many?"

"Picture day."

"Does that mean we have embarrassing pictures of you as a baby too, 'Kaidy?" Pyrrha asked as she sauntered over with Mina and Nico in tow. Alkaid had no idea when her daughter had popped in, but was somehow unsurprised by her presence. Mina always seemed to be around when there was a chance for her or Pyrrha embarrassing themselves. If she didn't know better, Mina had a bit of the trickster as part of her domains.

"Oh! I have a whole stash of those!" Melinoe declared appearing from nowhere even as she handed the photo, already autographed, that the Faceless requested to the shadowy creature. "Especially of her during the phase where she thought 'nerd outfits' were cool."

"Not the elf phase!" Alkaid shouted, all composure lost, as she tried to grab the photos Melinoe were flashing around like a fan out of her sister's hands.

"Mwahahaha!" The goddess of ghosts crowed.

"Let me see! Let me see!" Mina said, jumping up and down in excitement and adding to the mayhem.

The Faceless meanwhile looked upon the whole thing with amusement. "I think being in your service, young daughter of Hades, will be most amusing. Till you need me again, adieu."

Without waiting for a reply, the creature of darkness disappeared in a cloud of shadowy vapour.

Nico and Bianca watched the mayhem of their family until Nico turned to his sister and asked, "So, is that shadow dude your pet or something now? 'Cause I'm not walking him for you."

"Ha ha, Nico."

An invisible force smacked the son of Hades upside the head.

"Ow!"

"That was for thinking I need walks, young man." The disembodied voice of Bianca's Faceless said as Nico rubbed the back of his head. "Honestly, you young folks nowadays. I'm as old as creation itself! As if I need walkies. Hmph."

Bianca held her fist in the air for a fist bump and was elated to have it returned.

* * *

"Alkaid! Pyrrha!" A son of Hermes shouted as the duo were inspecting the increasingly robust network of defenses that now surrounded Camp. They even had automatons built by Hephaestus Cabin manning the machine guns and mortars that they'd set up and a whole host of other tasks, freeing up Campers to do other stuff. "Mr. D and Chiron want you two up at the Big House."

"They say why, Cecil?" Pyrrha asked.

"No clue." The impish boy shrugged, "I'm just the messenger. But I did spot Chris, you know Chris Rodriguez? The traitor? And Gracie Grey too, the Hecate-"

"We know who they are," Alkaid cut him off. "We'll head over right away. Thank you, Cecil."

"No prob, Alkaid," the excitable son of Hermes saluted before running off again to do who knew what.

"So what do you think the two traitors are here for?" Pyrrha asked as the two made their way to the Big House.

"Your guess is as good as mine," Alkaid admitted. "Let's go find out shall we?"

* * *

"Oh Miss Alkaid! Thank the gods that you're here. I've so much to tell you," Gracie Gray, daughter of Hecate said the moment that Alkaid stepped foot into the Big House living room.

Alkaid nodded, acknowledging the girl before sweeping her eyes over the rest of the room. In one corner was Clarisse and laying on a stretcher in front of her was the battered form of Chris Rodriguez being treated by Chiron, while in another corner was Mr. D looking peeved with the whole tableau in front of him.

 _Looks like Chiron is busy. Mr. D is out, naturally, and by the look on Clarisse's face so is she. That means Gracie is my best bet for answers._

"Gracie, what are you doing here?" Alkaid asked the girl sternly.

Her seriousness seemed to douse a fair chunk of the younger girl's enthusiasm but she nevertheless replied in earnest, "Oh, uh. So Chris and I were forced into the Labyrinth. He went insane. I think I did too, maybe? And then there was a rock man and we ran and I got put to sleep by some magic. And then glitter and glue, oh there was also-"

"And what are you two doing _here_? At Camp Half-Blood?"

"They defected back," Clarisse barked, without looking away from Chris. "I went on a mission while you were at school to go pick them up. We ended up getting lost in the Labyrinth."

"So the Titans _are_ intending to invade via the Labyrinth?" Pyrrha asked, sounding grim. Alkaid could empathise, despite their preparations an attack through it would be difficult to fight back.

"Yes! With evil cookies!" Gracie nodded sternly, before she continued in a stage whisper. "They don't even have milk, the monsters."

"I take it that the Labyrinth has had an impact on Gracie's mind?" Alkaid asked, directing the question to Mr. D.

"She's only half a fruitloop right now." Mr. D snorted. "The girl's heritage protected her somewhat it seems."

"And we sent Annabeth and her team into it?" Pyrrha asked, worriedly.

The god shrugged uncaringly. "They'll only end up like that if they get lost, which is unlikely since they're on a quest. The Fates will favor them more than these two dolts."

"And they have bolts!" Gracie chimed in, her hands splayed in the air.

"Okay, and what about the Titans? Which genius on their side sent their army through the Labyrinth then?"

"King Minos," Gracie supplied. "The floating windbag said it's a perfect backdoor into Camp. He was a meanie face. I think someone pooped in his cereal. That's sad, the wasted milk."

 _Minos!? So he's betrayed us? Father will hear of this._ Alkaid promised ominously as her hands tightened into fists. She'd have fun helping her Father devise the dead king's punishments for his treachery.

First by getting a new Judge to rub into Minos' moronic face.

Alkaid looked at Gracie and frowned. "Mr. D, are you sure she's alright?"

"She's fine," the god said dismissively. "Let her get some rest for a few days and she'll be fine. Mostly. Besides, she's far more entertaining this way."

 _He would think that._ Alkaid thought with a sigh.

"So Gracie, mind telling me, if you know, why Daedalus hasn't sealed off the Labyrinth's access to Camp yet?" Alkaid asked the unhinged girl carefully.

"Oh that! It's funny." The girl said before breaking out into a burst of deranged giggles. "That's 'cause Minos has caught Da-dalus in some kind of debt or something. It's magically binding so Dudealus has no choice but to obey. He doesn't want to though, so he's dilly dallying, I think. I mean, if he wanted to he could just make the Titans a direct path to Camp, right? Am I right? Huh? Huh!? What a silly dummy!"

Pyrrha leaned over to Alkaid and whispered, "It's like she's a mix of drunk, high and crazy. This can't be healthy."

"I know," Alkaid whispered back. "But we have to trust Mr. D. He _is_ the god of madness."

"And I'm thinking I'll ask Mina for a second opinion," Pyrrha countered. "Madness is one of her domains too."

Alkaid nodded in agreement. That was a good idea.

"Chiron, is Chris stable enough to transfer over to Cabin Seven?"

"I'll handle that," Chiron replied. "Why don't you take Gracie back to Cabin 11 and get her settled."

"Oh! Cabin 11? I missed it so~!" Gracie sang. "It was wonderfully cramped! And didn't have the risk of being eaten by a random monster that got peckish or offended or just felt like it. Oh poor Sebastian! He shouldn't have pissed off those Telekhines back on the Princess Andromeda."

"Wait? The Titans just let monsters snack on demigods? Even those that work for them?" Pyrrha asked, horrified.

"Yeah-huh!" Gracie nodded, her head whipping back and forth. "Splash zone and _everything_!"

"I think that's enough for today, Gracie," Alkaid offered the girl kindly as she gently guided her out of the Big House. "Why don't we get you in bed?"

"Okay." Gracie said, in a subdued voice. "Sleep sounds good. Haven't slept in ages. Always had to keep eyes open. Monsters like little girls."

"Do I want to know what you mean?" Pyrrha asked, her face pale.

"No, nope, nada. You really don't." Gracie said as she followed the two women towards Cabin 11.

Alkaid and Pyrrha exchanged a look at that and silently made a promise to each other that they would never let Gracie suffer what she'd endured again. Not if they could help it.

* * *

It was a couple days later and a full week after Annabeth and her team had set off for their quest to get in touch with Daedalus when breaking news had Camp's Counselors gathered in the Big House to watch the news.

" _...and scientists are saying this is the biggest eruption of Mt. St. Helens in recorded history. That it came so out of the blue, without any warning signs have left them baffled and caused the situation to be especially dire. Without those warning signs, evacuations were not called for and as a result, the death toll is expected to be exceptionally high._ "

"Holy fuck." Pyrrha whistled as she eyed the television. "So who set that thing off?"

"You don't think it's a natural phenomenon?" Katie Gardner asked, sounding unconvinced by her own words. She was clearly just trying to play devil's advocate.

"One of father's forges is under Mt. St. Helens," Beckendorf informed the gathered leaders of Camp with a frown. "Add to that the sudden nature of the whole thing… I don't think there's any doubt. This eruption is unnatural."

"It's also bad news," Mr. D said sounding genuinely worried as his Thyrsus appeared in his hand. "With a capital B. Mt. St. Helens is where Typhoon is imprisoned."

"Does that mean what I think that means?" Malcolm, acting counselor for Cabin Six, asked as he paled.

"That the daddy of all monsters is free? Not yet, thank Olympus." Mr. D said to the relief of everyone there though his teeth were gnawing on his lower lip. "But he's close."

That set everyone on edge once more but Chiron hastily cut through the tension before it could build any higher.

"We'll worry about that problem when it comes up," the centaur said authoritatively. "For now, let's deal with the problems at hand. I believe we have enough of those already, do we not?"

This was met by murmurs of agreement from everyone.

Before they could continue with discussions though, Cecil form Hermes Cabin burst into the room.

"E-Everyone," he said between gasps of air. "Annabeth is back. Alone."

The assembled Camp leadership exchanged nervous looks at that, but before they could so much as think on the matter, Annabeth herself walked into the room. She looked bedraggled, soot covered her body with twin tear tracks running down her blackened cheeks.

"Annabeth, where are the others?" Alkaid asked the blonde girl darkly, her tone ice cold.

The daughter of Athena looked down, refusing to meet Alkaid's eyes as she replied. "Grover sensed Pan's presence, so he and Tyson split up with us and went off to investigate."

"And Percy? Where is he?" The sorceress asked even as sparks danced between her fingers as she struggled to squash the urge to blast the girl if her answer was unsatisfactory.

"We ended up in one of Lord Hephaestus' forges being used by the Telekhines to forge the Crooked One a new scythe. We got spotted. Percy asked me to go report to Lord Hephaestus-"

"-and what did he do?" Pyrrha demanded her grip on the ping pong table so hard that her knuckles had turned white.

"He… He shook the volcano." Annabeth sobbed, her tears beginning anew. "It erupted and, and… I think he's dead."

 _That would explain Mt. St. Helens._ Alkaid thought grimly.

"No he isn't," Alkaid said authoritatively. "As a daughter of Hades and a close friend of his, I would have sensed if he died. He is most likely recovering from the eruption."

"Then we need to find him!" Annabeth shouted as she finally looked up, a fire in her eyes.

"We need to prep the Camp's defenses. Percy will come back when he is needed, no doubt. For now, we dig in for war." Chiron countered.

"No offense Chiron," Pyrrha said looking the centaur dead in the eyes. "But screw that. One of our own is out there after having _blasted himself out of a volcano_ to slow down the enemy. There's no way in the world that we're not going to search for him."

This was met by firm nods from everyone there.

"Besides, we've dug in as deep as we can already," Beckendorf added. "Camp is surrounded by fortifications already, it's not like we could add much more."

Chiron was shocked that his word was being challenged and turned to Mr. D for support. The god in turn just shrugged. "Let the brats do what they want. It's their Camp."

"Fine then," the Trainer of Heroes said with a sigh. "But we need to keep Camp's defenses up even during the search."

"Of course, Chiron." Alkaid said with a small smile, as she found joy in the old centaur getting overruled by his own charges. "I'll make sure of that."

"Then let's get down to it, shall we?" The old stallion said with fervour, betraying his own inner desire to rescue Percy. "Let's start with possible locations Percy could be recovering and move from there."

* * *

 **Done and done! Thanks to the team of Nameless and Axios as always!**

 **The hounds of war are released! Soon the blood for the blood god and skulls for the skull throne will be given out! And Daedalus, dude, you are so dumb strolling up to Camp with three children of Hades right there. Hubris!**

 **Nameless: To be fair, he did evade the gods for millenia. I think he has room for some hubris. Though, of course, it did eventually catch up to him.**

 **So we got Gracie back, the poor thing. Plus who wouldn't want to follow Alkaid-sempai all day long? XD Still, writing her crazy dialogue was a blast! Gotta make sure she's got a little tick after all this. Oh, and Chris too I guess.**

 **Nameless: Indeed it was. More Gracie obviously since Chris will rarely show up. He's Clarisse's boytoy even in canon, and neither have much 'screen time' even in canon.**

 **And yes, Bianca is a familiar based sorceress with a knack for curses. Now that's going to be a fun fighting style to work around. Now we just gotta think about what Hazel's shtick is going to be. Illusions are fine but come on! We've got more pride than that.**

 **Nameless: Pretty sure that makes Bianca a warlock.**

 **Oh, she is! Pacts with outsiders and whatnot.**

 **Nameless: Maybe not Outsiders, but you guys should get the gist.**

 **And yes, we weren't going to cliffhanger Percy being The Dead. I mean, Al is buddy buddy with him so she was bound to know he is still kicking. Right?**

 **Nameless: Well, we know from canon that children of Hades can sense when people have died. So it isn't a stretch at least to have this extend to them being aware of the death of those they are close to, at least with some training. And Alkaid definitely has the training.**

 **Well, you know what to do! Smash that review button and tell us what you love! No flames and peace off my peeps!**


	23. Chapter 23

**Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson or Harry Potter.**

 **Consul of the Underworld: Grinding Phase**

 **Chapter Twenty Three: Fortress Half-Blood**

 **Beta: ShadowofAxios**

* * *

Percy was sailing the magical raft from Ogygia through a magical fog of some kind and up what his powers told him was Long Island Sound. All the while, his mind was filled by a storm of emotions as he reflected on Calypso and her curse. He felt bad for her and was truly tempted to stay there to give her company in her exile. Still, in the end, his sense of loyalty demanded he return to his friends and loved ones.

Suddenly, the fog cleared and he found himself by the familiar beach of Camp. Except there were three triremes anchored off it.

"What in the-"

"Percy! It's Percy!" A voice shouted at the top of its lungs from the crow's nest of one of the ships. "It's him. Oh gods, it's really him!"

This cry seemed to cause a ear splitting cheer to erupt from the gathered Campers, satyrs and naiads that were all over the ships. The cheering and congratulations on his return accompanied him all the way as Percy guided his raft to beach gently on the shore, at which point he was promptly swarmed by the seemingly hysterical crowd and tossed in the air in celebration.

He was just trying to regain his bearings from one such toss when a blond blur slammed into him and pulled him into a bone crushing hug.

"Oh gods! Percy, you're back!" The blonde, who Percy _finally_ realized was Annabeth, exclaimed tearfully. "I thought you were dead!"

He was stunned by the action but his arms moved on their own and hugged Annabeth back. All the while his mind was brought back to how she'd kissed him in Hephaestus' forge.

 _Does she- Nah, it can't be, right?_

"Ahem. I do believe I told you Chase that he was still alive. Didn't you trust me?" Alkaid said peevishly as she walked over, the crowd respectfully parting to allow the Assistant Activities Director through.

"You could have been wrong." Annabeth muttered.

"Hardly, but believe what you will."

"Um, not to interrupt or anything." Percy cut in, without releasing the hug. It felt nice and he was gonna milk it for as long as he could. No telling when Annabeth was going back to punching him in the arm just for being nice to her again. "But could someone explain what's going on?"

"Oh nothing much," Pyrrha said as she squeezed through the crowd to join her wife. "Just us organizing a major search to find you."

"T-That's-" Percy stammered in shock.

"Yeah, we were even thinking of sending search parties out to sea to look for you," Alkaid informed him with a disapproving shake of her head while gesturing to the triremes. "And while we were preparing for a siege too. What a waste of re-"

"It wasn't a waste!" Annabeth shouted, hugging Percy tightly even as she spun to glare at Alkaid. "We _had to_ find Percy!"

"Percy was fine!" Alkaid shot back. "Like I've said before the Fates wouldn't let a potential Child of the Great Prophecy just disappear on us in our time of need. He'd have reappeared when we needed him. And I was right! Judging by the raft and the moonlace Percy brought back with him, he ended up on Ogygia."

"Not everyone is as callous as you!" Annabeth replied as she jumped to her feet and got into Alkaid's face. "Percy was missing! And all you wanted to do was wait!"

"Not everyone is as petulant as you." Alkaid replied with a roll of her emerald eyes. "And it seemed waiting was the right thing to do. Percy returned _in spite_ of our search, not because of it. Besides, do remember why he was gone in the first place, Chase."

"'Kaidy, maybe you should back down. We all agreed to organize the search remember?" Pyrrha said, trying to soothe tensions.

"Oh no, Chase's little ego has been rubbing me the wrong way for long enough. If she wants to tussle, I'll take off the kiddy gloves." Alkaid spoke with the iciness of the harshest tundra. "It might be cathartic. Besides, when I agreed to the search it was with the caveat of not drawing resources away from building up our defenses which _building triremes_ clearly does!"

"We were going to need them eventually." Annabeth retorted with a sharp tone.

"Against who? The fish? Not even the Crooked One would strike from the sea. Only Oceanus could pull that cruise liner to our shores and Poseidon would not take that lying down. Those triremes could have been a whole set of fortifications or catapults. Now? They're just a waste."

"Well, we can use them against that cruise ship. Maybe then we'll actually manage to sink it and not just inconvenience it like a certain so-called 'magical nuke'." Annabeth sneered.

"I'm sorry, is that bitterness I hear? Maybe a _touch_ of envy? Does me doing damage to the Princess Andromeda where you can't even dream of doing so make you feel inadequate? I remember something about Circe offering lessons. Maybe you should run back to the Sea of Monsters?"

"Why you-!"

"Enough!" Percy roared, stepping between both women. His eyes flashing back and forth to look at both of them sternly. "I don't know what's gotten into both of you, but stop. Now! We have enough problems with a potential invasion, we _don't need_ you two at each other's' throats at the same time!"

Alkaid sighed, running a hand through her hair, "Very well. I apologize Percy. I'm venting my… frustration."

With that she turned and stalked off with the grace of a lioness. A angry lioness. Somehow the son of Poseidon couldn't help but find it attractive. So sue him, he had a thing for dangerous women. Speaking of which…

"And Annabeth, anything to say?" The son of the seas said sternly as he eyed the daughter of Athena with a steely gaze.

"Fine," the blonde said almost petulantly. "I won't pick a fight with her again. You're right we can't afford it. Not now."

It wasn't quite what Percy was hoping for, but it was good enough.

"Good," the boy said with a nod. "Now can someone give me a _proper_ explanation about what happened while I was gone?"

* * *

"Don't worry. We'll stop Luke and his army." Percy assured Chiron and Alkaid as they saw him and Annabeth off for their second dive into the Labyrinth.

"Or at least slow them down." Annabeth offered more pessimistically.

"You've gotta hurry," Gracie Grey, the Hecate girl who'd just defected back to their side, said from where she stood next to Alkaid. "'Cos when we left Daedalus was being forced by meanie Minos to make the winding road straight."

Percy just blinked at her wording, was she okay? Then again, she was in the Labyrinth far longer than he and his group had been.

"She means-"

"I got what she meant, Annabeth." Percy said with a sigh. "Uh, Gracie, you feeling alright?"

"Right as rain, Percy. Totally peachy!" The girl said enthusiastically while sporting a deranged grin.

"Uh, Chiron, Alkaid-"

"Don't worry, Percy, we'll take care of her." Chiron reassured him with a sad smile. "In the meantime, you have a quest to finish."

"Right," the son of Poseidon agreed with a determined nod and turned to walk into the Labyrinth entrance. "See you soon then. Come on, Annabeth."

"Hey! I'm the leader of this quest." Annabeth shouted in protest even as she fell into line next to him.

"Yeah, yeah, wise girl." Percy replied teasingly. "Then lead on, glorious leader."

The daughter of Athena huffed in annoyance, but did just that and stomped ahead of him.

"Good luck and don't let the psychedelic maze mess with ya! Or ya'll will end like me!" Gracie shouted as they crossed the threshold into the Labyrinth.

 _Is that girl really going to be alright?_ Percy wondered as their surroundings changed from the rough stone of the cave inside Zeus' Fist into ancient Greek masonry. _And will we?_

* * *

"Okay, they're off," Alkaid declared with a nod as Percy and Chase disappeared into the Zeus' Fist. "Time for us to get back to work."

"Indeed," Chiron agreed with a nod. "If you need me, I'll be at the archery range helping to oversee training. You?"

"Gracie and I will go check on the progress of our preparations."

"Good idea," Chiron allowed. "Update me when you're done."

"Of course," Alkaid assured the centaur.

Exchanging one last nod, the two senior members of Camp's staff went their separate ways.

As they walked through the woods to begin their inspection tour, Alkaid decided it was high time to ask Gracie a few questions. Ever since the girl had returned, Alkaid had taken her under her wing. She could even count her as an apprentice of sorts considering she'd occasionally even been teaching her the odd spell or two. Something that seemed to help the daughter of Hecate when the mind warping effects of her time in the Labyrinth became too much. It was this latter issue that was why it was only now that Alkaid got around to asking some rather pertinent questions with a hope that she would get some decent answers now that the girl wasn't quite so addled.

"Gracie, mind telling me why you and Chris switched sides again?"

"Oh that," Gracie said with a shrug, as if her defection was no big deal to her. "We did it mainly 'cos it was crystal clear to us that the Titans were sending us to our doom. I mean, who in their starboard mind, would march an army through the Labyrinth unless you thought it was throwaway?"

"And only you and Chris thought like that?"

"Nah," Gracie replied with an exaggerated shake of her head. "It's just we're the only two who were daring enough to try and succeeded. The others usually ended up in a pot. The Laistrygonians always said traitors tasted the best. Plenty o' people were too afraid to try after the first time someone became stew."

"Why am I not surprised that the Titan allowed such barbarism in their army?" Alkaid said, thoroughly disgusted.

"'Cos they're evil? They do have loads of man eating monsters working for them."

"How did you fight the urge to stay with your siblings? I believed it was an instinctive urge of children of Hecate to stay with the strongest of your siblings." Alkaid asked. She distinctly recalled Hecate mentioning this particular quirk being a thing with her children when they chatted in the past.

"Oh, that was easy." Gracie said with a chuckle. "The compulsion is really to follow the strongest _magician_ in our cabal and while most of my siblings regard that to be Alabaster who is firmly loyal to the Titans' cause, I know better. I mean, you're loads stronger than he is, Miss Alkaid. Sure, strictly speaking you're not one of us, so it took a while to break the compulsion but who is and isn't really is just a mental thing. So all I had to do was think of you as one of us and voila! It just took a while."

The brunette held a hand to her chest, "Why Gracie, you flatter me."

"Just speaking truth here," the daughter of Hecate said with a shrug. "Besides, it was the only way for me to escape the Titans and their losing cause."

"Why do you think they'll lose?"

"Well, they don't have you on their side do they?"

Alkaid blushed and opened her mouth to redirect the conversation to less embarrassing topics when a silvery blur jumped down from the canopy of the forest directly at Gracie. Instead of panicking, the daughter of Hades just sighed in frustration as the younger magic user drew a pair of long knives out of magical circles and used them to fend off her attacker.

Pushed back by Gracie's block, said attacker was thrown into the air but gracefully adjusted her fall and managed a safe landing soundlessly.

"Good job, Gracie!" Mina declared with a smile, as she put away her own knives in her sundress. Somewhere. "You're getting better."

"Thank you Lady Mina," the daughter of Hecate said with a smile as she too put away her blades. "Thanks so much for teaching me how to knife fight."

"It's nothing," the goddess of serial killers said with a shrug. "We loopy girls have to help each other out. You've got talent at it anyways, so it would've been a shame to have let it go to waste. Mum always says so. Isn't that right, Mum?"

"Indeed," Alkaid conceded to her daughter even if she disliked her almost apprentice picking up something as uncouth as knife fighting. Then again she had to agree that Gracie _did_ have talent for the art.

"Oh, there you are," Pyrrha's voice called through the forest as she jogged over. "Mina, what did I say about disappearing into the forest?"

"Don't do it..." Mina said guiltily.

"You broke your promise, Mina?" Alkaid asked, eying her daughter sternly. One of the rules they'd set up for the little goddess to follow when she was at Camp was for her to leave the forest and its monsters alone. If she was given the chance, she'd likely massacre the entire monstrous population around Camp and then what would the Campers train against?

"But I just wanted to test Gracie! I didn't even hurt any of the monsters. I was a good girl."

"While you did, you still went through the forest." The sorceress pointed out, making Mina give her an adorable pout, "We won't ground you, but no dessert tonight young lady."

"Aw!" Mina whined, looking at Gracie with a pleading look.

"Sorry Lady Mina, but I wouldn't dare to undermine Miss Alkaid's punishment."

The goddess of serial killers just got more pouty at that. Alkaid, and she was sure Pyrrha as well, were sorely tested at the sight but they held firm. It was difficult though. Oh so difficult.

Wrenching her eyes away from her little girl before she succumbed to her charms, Alkaid turned to face her wife.

"So 'Kaidy, whatcha doing?" The daughter of Ares asked before Alkaid could say anything.

"Gracie and I are on our way to inspect Camp's preparations."

"Then mind if we join you?" Pyrrha suggested, coming up next to her and holding her hand. "We can start by checking up on Bianca. Heard she's in the lesson Malcolm set up for the squad leaders."

"Since when was Bianca a squad leader?" Alkaid asked in surprise. As much as she had faith in her little sister, the sorceress was sure she was too new to Camp and the demigod life in general to be trusted with such a responsibility.

"She's not, Mum," Mina chimed in helpfully as she grabbed Alkaid's other hand. "But Malcolm opened it for everyone who was interested. Aunt Bianca went."

"That makes more sense," the daughter of Hades said with a sigh of relief. "Anyways, that sounds like a perfect place to start. Lead on, Macduff."

* * *

They found Malcolm conducting his lesson at the edge of the forest, using it to have his students practice leading each other in a mock battle. He would form them up into two groups then have them attack each other and then critique their tactics in the aftermath.

Observing him as he conducted one such debriefing, Alkaid noted that he seemed to be posing questions to Bianca more often than he asked anyone else.

"Huh, that's suspicious." Pyrrha mused, her reddish brown eyes narrowed as she watched the son of Athena.

"I'm sure it's because my sister is new to all of this. And she does need help getting a firm grasp of tactics since her style of magic uses minions." Alkaid told her wife assuringly.

"And what if it's not?" The daughter of war countered, not looking assured at all.

Smirking, Alkaid pecked her on the cheek, "You _do_ give quite the shovel talk."

"And you don't?" The redhead nudged her with her hip.

"I have no idea what you may be referring to."

"Mum, Mama, what about me?" Mina protested. " _I_ give the best shovel speeches."

Both women exchanged looks. Mina _was_ the goddess of serial killers, which meant she was probably right.

"If Malcolm is really interested in Bianca, we're siccing Mina on him." Pyrrha declared with a vicious smirk.

"Agreed," Alkaid replied with a equally bloodthirsty smirk.

"Poor Malcolm," Gracie commented as she shivered in fright.

* * *

The inspection tour next took the group past the Big House where they saw Nico and Will Solace carrying medical supplies presumably intended for the various first aid posts they'd set up across Camp. Nico even had a few skeletons helping them out, most of whom were wearing doctor's coats.

Offering the two boys a little wave, Alkaid smiled. "Nico and Will are pretty good friends, huh?"

"Looks like," Pyrrha agreed as the two boys returned the wave before walking off chattering away all the while. "What are they talking so earnestly about anyway?"

"Sounds like they're arguing over the difference between 'death stuff' and 'life stuff'," Mina offered, tilting her head in innocent confusion. "That's what Nico is calling them anyways. Mum, what does he mean?"

"I'm pretty sure he's talking about his Necromancy and Will's Vitakinesis, Lady Mina." Gracie explained helpfully.

"Ah! That makes sense. Thanks Gracie," Mina said, offering the daughter of Hecate a smile. "Mum's lucky to have such a smart minion."

"Apprentice." Alkaid lightly chided.

"So I'm your apprentice now, Miss Alkaid?"

"Of course you are," Pyrrha said on Alkaid's behalf. "You are learning magic from 'Kaidy aren't you?"

"True, but being an apprentice is a lot more than just being her student." Gracie countered. "There's a special meaning to it for us magicians."

"There is?" Pyrrha asked, surprised. "First time I'm hearing about it. Add that to another thing Hogwarts didn't talk about."

"Think how specialised wizards like Potions Master take on apprentices," Alkaid supplied helpfully. "Many other magic users apply that to magical instruction in general."

"Got it," Pyrrha said with a nod. "So basically, if you're 'Kaidy's apprentice then she's like your guardian or boss and trains you in magic?"

"Guardian, since I'm a kid. And she's supposed to teach me about life too."

"Mum~! I want new siblings by you and Mama making babies not more adoptions!" Mina whined and stomped her foot. "My diaboltic plans are on the line!"

"Taking on an apprentice isn't adoption," Alkaid insisted. "And I think you were going for 'diabolic' sweetie."

"It pretty much is, Miss Alkaid." Gracie said, siding with Mina.

"Sounds like it to me, to be honest." Pyrrha, the sexy traitor, added.

"Argh, fine." Alkaid said with a resigned sigh and crossed her arms. "And yes Gracie, you're my apprentice."

"Yay!" Gracie cheered, she jumped up and down a few times. When she finally stopped, she coughed into her fist, her cheeks flush with embarrassment.

"I guess you'll be a good sister," Mina said with a shrug, somehow evaluating the blonde with narrowed eyes. "I mean you're nice and I like you. So you got that working for you."

"Mina, be nice." Pyrrha warned. "And welcome to the family, Gracie."

"Thanks Miss Pyrrha." Gracie said, grinning from ear to ear.

"Gracie," Alkaid barked, a little more harshly than she needed to as they walked through the Cabins area. Could anyone blame her? She'd suddenly had someone added to her family simply because she wanted to be nice and take a lost little girl under her wing. A life changing decision that her family, traitors all, were just taking in stride as if it was nothing. "Take notes."

"Yes, Master." Gracie squeaked as she pulled a pen and notepad out of a magic circle.

"Sensei. Call me Sensei." Alkaid insisted. "Master just sounds, ugh, wrong."

"Mistress is already taken." Pyrrha cheekly added. "And I think all of Mina's anime is getting to you."

"It was the first thing to come to mind." Alkaid hedged, her pale cheeks pink. "But it works, so let's go with that."

"Whatever you say, Sensei." Gracie agreed with a nod as she prepared to take notes. Her pen hovering over her notepad, she added, "So, um, what do you want me to take down?"

"Cabins One, Two, Three, and Eight are empty," Alkaid dictated, gesturing to the Cabins in question. "And so will not be adding to our defenses."

By this point, they were mostly past the Cabins and were in sight of a segment of the defenses that had been built around Camp. There were a series of ramparts and trenches in a comprehensive network that encircled the whole area.

Gesturing to a group of Campers, satyrs and dryads carrying bags of fertiliser and a number of potted plants towards this outer ring of walls, Alkaid continued speaking.

"Cabin Four is seeding our outermost perimeter with a jungle of dangerous plants. Remind me to get them to provide a map of the more dangerous ones. We need to make sure no one gets eaten by a Venus Mantrap by accident."

"Got it, Sensei." Gracie replied as she diligently took down what Alkaid requested.

"Did the exotic magical plants arrive?" Pyrrha asked curiously.

"Um," The green eyed girl flipped through her new notepad, "I don't know? But I saw them plant a Whomping Willow the other day, so some of it did. I'll ask them for a full list of what plants they have in stock alongside the map."

"Yes, do that." Alkaid nodded agreeingly even as she turned her attention elsewhere. Namely a group of Pyrrha's siblings in the process of setting up a battery of field howitzers with some of Cabin Nine helping set up automatons to man the artillery.

"Also take note to get Cabin Five to get us a comprehensive breakdown of the firing arcs and ranges of all the weapons emplacements they've set up."

"Yes!" The daughter of Hecate nodded while writing furiously in her notes. "I'll make sure they give us all the data we need on the machine guns, mortars and field guns."

"Don't forget to ask them for how much ammo they have too." Pyrrha added helpfully. "Supply is a big deal in a fight."

Gracie nodded and made an addition to her notes.

"Mum, why are the clockwork men making a concrete hut around the guns?" Mina asked curiously as she eyed the construction automatons Cabin Nine provided building a fortified bunker around the artillery battery.

"So they'll be harder for the enemy to blow up." Alkaid explained absently as she surveyed how the various automation work crews labouring away all over Camp to set up fortifications and placing obstructions, tank traps and all kinds of obstacles, were doing.

"Tank traps, really?" The sorceress said looking at Pyrrha with a raised brow.

"I am nothing if not thorough for battlefield setup." The daughter of Ares said with a grin. "Besides, they are pretty obstructing to infantry too."

"Fine," Alkaid conceded. "Gracie, add that Cabin Five and Nine have also set up roadblocks all over the place. Have them provide a map of their placement too. In fact, since we're getting all these maps, have Cabin Six collate all of the data together into a master map."

"Malcolm, won't like that." Gracie said with a frown. "He'll think we're just asking his Cabin to do busywork."

"Tell him to suck it up." Alkaid told her sternly. "We don't have time for Cabin politics. If he has a problem with that ask him to bring it up with me."

"Gotcha, Sensei."

By now they had reached a set of rear bunkers, one of which was Cabin Seven's field hospital.

"How's Cabin Seven for medical supplies. We have enough nectar and ambrosia?"

"If what Lee was saying at dinner's true then they were swimming in both." Gracie said. "But I'll make sure to get them to provide a full inventory of what they have."

"As long as the triage is properly guarded during the attack, that's all that really matters. We're going to have wounded, no matter how good our prep work is." The daughter of Hades frowned.

"Don't worry Mum, I'll stick around the hospital during the fight." Mina reassured her mother, flipping a knife in her hand. "I can't fight the army, it's against the rules, but I can protect the sick people. I'll stabbity stab anyone who tries to hurt them. Hehe, it'll flow sticky red!"

"Thank you, sweetie." Alkaid said while affectionately ruffling her daughter's hair. "That should free up more of our fighters."

"Yeah, guess I'll take Ellis and his squad off guard duty here then." Pyrrha mused. "Gracie, remind me about that later, alright?"

"Sure, Miss Pyrrha." Gracie agreed as she scribbled it down.

A short walk from the field hospital was another bunker, this one with a smokestack built into its roof that was billowing out a stream of noxious looking green smoke.

"Okay, I've done a few potion brewings, but that looks plain toxic." Gracie chuckled weakly as she eyed the joint project of Cabins Ten and Twelve. The latter putting their talents at perfumery to good use while the latter added a touch of their madness inducing skills to the mix.

"That's the whole point, Gracie." Alkaid told her with a vicious grin. "The Titans won't know what hit them."

"I know I've asked this before, but I just gotta ask one more time. 'Kaidy, are you totally sure we need a chemical weapons lab?"

"Of course. We need every advantage we can get." Alkaid reassured her with a brush of her hair. "Besides, chemical warfare is all the rage these days."

"The CWC (Chemical Weapons Convention) would disagree, but whatever floats your boat."

"I think it's a great idea!" Mina chimed in loyally. "More madness is always a good thing!"

"You'd say that," Pyrrha said with an amused shake of her head.

"So I take it, I'll need the chemists to give us a rundown of their production?" Gracie asked, as they walked away.

"Yes, do that." Alkaid agreed as she led them towards a bunker along their intermediate defensive line, where Cabin Eleven was busy putting the final touches to their HQ.

"Our C2 (command and control) up and operational?" Alkaid asked as she walked into the room full of radio equipment and multiple monitors keyed into the many, many surveillance cameras and spells that had been set up around Camp.

"All up and ready for action, ma'am." Travis replied with a cheeky salute. "Gods, I love having an unlimited budget."

"Then thank my Father," Alkaid told him seriously. "He's footing the bulk of the bill."

"Ma'am, yes ma'am!"

"We even got some fuzzy dice." Connor chimed in.

Alkaid had no idea why they insisted on it, but she let it go. Boys were weird.

"And the intel department is satisfied?" Alkaid asked turning to a son of Athena who was leading the group of his siblings in Malcolm's absence.

"Yes, ma'am." The boy said nervously, clearly intimidated by the sorceress. "We've got full surveillance coverage of the whole Camp and thanks to the intel we got from Chris and Gracie, we've worked with the strategic and tactical departments to come up with some scenarios of what to expect."

Alkaid nodded in satisfaction. "Will they be ready for review at tonight's War Council?"

"Yes ma'am," The boy assured her.

"Good, make sure they are." Alkaid warned him.

"Uh, Sensei," Gracie said, as a daughter of Hermes rushed off after whispering something into the daughter of Hecate's ear. "Beckendorf is saying that the laser cannon is ready for a test fire."

"I'll be right there." Alkaid said with a eager smile. Mayhaps too eager. She did have a certain decorum to maintain. "Anyone wants to join me?"

Hands went up throughout the HQ.

"Then if you're not doing anything essential, let's go."

With her at the head, a small throng of Campers marched off to see some glorious destruction.

* * *

Percy stepped out of the Zeus' Fist entrance to the Labyrinth and froze at the sight that greeted him. One part of that was the sight of the fortress that Camp had transformed into. Even more so than when he'd left. The walls, if possible, were even higher than he remembered and were even more bristling with automaton manned machine gun emplacements. The bigger part of it though was the way a squad from Cabin Eleven had seemingly materialized out of nowhere the moment he'd stepped out of the cave and held him at swordpoint.

"Uh, what's up?" Percy asked nervously as a son of Hermes pressed his sword against his neck.

"How badly do you have it for Potter, Percy? If it really is you?"

Percy's face exploded into red, as he struggled not to choke on his spit, "Dude! The bro-code!"

The swords were drawn back, "He's clean."

"Oh can it, Max." Annabeth snapped irritably as she came out of the cave and gave the leader of the Hermes scouts a death glare. "We have important news, so if you're done embarrassing Percy take us to the Big House now!"

"Oh, you're just jelly Chase that Percy's still got the hots for Potter."

"Am not!" The daughter of Athena said, blushing atomic red.

"You totally are." The son of Hermes snickered.

"Uh, as amusing as all this is, we _really_ do have important news." Grover said placatingly as he and Tyson also exited the cave. "So if you could hurry us along."

"Fine," Max said sounding disappointed that his fun had ended, but obligingly led them towards a hidden gate in the fortifications while signing to his second-in-command to take charge of his squad in the meantime. "So what's the news anyways?"

"Titan army right behind us." Tyson said somberly, shuffling his feet. "Be here in maybe hour or two."

Max looked like he had a mini heart attack as he stumbled a few steps. He turned back to them with a pale face, "Right! Move people!"

With him at the head, they all but sprinted over to the Big House for the War Council.

* * *

As Tyson had predicted, the Titan army emerged from the Labyrinth a little over an hour after Percy and his fellow questers returned. They heralded their arrival by a massive explosion that blew the entire rock formation that had been the Zeus' Fist apart and sending shrapnel everywhere whilst creating a much wider opening than the narrow cave passage had been. It was from this expanded exit that their vanguard boiled out of the ground like a swarm of ants.

This vanguard consisted of scores of traitorous demigods that raced across the no man's land that lay between the labyrinth entrance and the wall that the Campers had built. A trek that saw them mowed down in the dozens by the defenders' machine guns whose bullets coated as they were in contact poisons cooked up in Cabins Ten and Twelve's chemical weapons lab killed with the slightest graze. Those that survived the bullets were hardly safe as they found themselves forced to endure mortars armed with Greek Fire shells and canister shot that exploded in mid-air to unleash a rain of acid on the enemy courtesy of Camp's howitzers. All told, only a handful of the hundred or so enemy demigods made it to the walls and those were swiftly dispatched by either the deadly line of plants lining the walls or the Campers manning them.

This wholesale slaughter of their own kind, even if they were the enemy, took a toll on the Campers though and their morale was shaken.

"Steady yourselves," Alkaid barked into the microphone that connected her to the Campers' radio network. "We knew the Titans would try something like this. Hold yourselves together. This is just the first wave."

She received a series of weak affirmatives in reply, but was largely met by numb silence. The Campers knew she was right. But that didn't make what they had done any easier.

"Ma'am," Travis shouted from where he was manning a command console. "The enemy's second wave just exited the Labyrinth. It's a phalanx of Scythian Dracanae."

Spinning to the large monitor displaying an image of the Labyrinth entrance, Alkaid frowned as she saw a very literal wall of shields marching - Or was it slithering? - steadily towards them. Movement behind the phalanx made it clear that the Titans were also using the cover provided by it to protect the rest of their host as it deployed. Most worrying of which though were the large numbers of harpies that were soaring into the skies behind the snakewomen.

"Shell them! We need to break their formation." Alkaid ordered. "Our bullets are useless if we don't hit them and those shields are preventing us from doing that."

They were doing as she ordered, but the rate of fire was too low. Dracanae were dying left and right, but in nowhere near enough numbers to break the cohesion of their phalanx.

"We're trying, ma'am." A son of Hermes shouted back. "But the harpies are harassing our gun crews. Our fire is dropping off."

"Damn it!" Alkaid cursed. "Why did we neglect air defense? And how in the Pit did the Titans know that we did?"

"Spies obviously," Malcolm informed her, his voice coldly furious. "I've deployed Cabin Seven's archers to deal with them. But-"

Malcolm's words were cut off as movement behind the phalanx caught both their attention. A mob of Laistrygonian giants armed with honest to gods cannons that they yielded like rifles stepped into view and fired. Globs of molten lead and shrapnel peppered the walls, burning gaping holes into them with each shot and reducing any Camper unfortunate enough to be hit into charred ashes in seconds.

"Gods," a young son of Athena whispered in horror even as a daughter of Hermes lost her lunch nearby.

"Shift targets for our artillery! Take those Laistrygonians out!" Alkaid roared as she rushed out of the HQ.

"Where are you going?" Malcolm shouted after her.

"To help deal with those harpies," Alkaid shouted back. "You're in charge."

" **Axel Shooter: Phalanx Shift** **!** " The sorceress incanted the moment she reached the surface. At her invocation, hundreds of emerald spheres came into being around her before shooting off into the sky a moment later. These magical bullets streaked at the swarms of harpies harassing the defenders' automaton artillery men but seconds before impact suddenly veered away from their targets and headed instead towards the entrance to the Labyrinth.

"What-?!" Alkaid cried out in shock even as she spun in the direction her spell had been redirected and could only gape in shock at what she saw. There emerging from the Labyrinth was a massive two-armed, two-legged colossus which seemed to be carved out of stone. Its arms and legs were chunky, with round eye sockets and a chest that was covered in a spider web of red lines that pulsed in a pattern reminiscent of a heartbeat. One that was being ridden by dozens of humans who she'd bet were the children of Hecate.

As she looked on, her shooter spell slammed into the golem and splashed almost harmlessly against its set of impressive multi-layered magical shields.

"Malcolm!" She shouted back down the stairs to the HQ bunker. "Hit that thing with the laser cannon!"

"Already given the order!" The son of Athena shouted back, as behind Alkaid the sound of many gears told her that their secret weapon was repositioning to get a bead on its target. It took only a few seconds for it to get a lock before with the sound of crackling lightning, a thick red beam struck its target.

Alkaid had hoped this would melt the golem outright or at least pressure its shields, however the massive construct just raised a massive mirror shield strapped to its right arm and used it to deflect the laser harmlessly into outer space.

"Whoever their spies are, they're good." Alkaid noted with a growl, magic sparking from her fingertips only to fly away towards the golem."They shouldn't have known about the laser cannon in the first place, much less know to prepare a counter for it."

 _Argh! I can't even get angry properly! Wait! If even sparks of my magic…_ Alkaid frowned. _Smart little hedge wizards. Attracting all my magic to you, are you? Well, let's see how much of it you can handle!_

" **Επικαλούνται: βροχή φωτός [Invoke: Rain of Light]!** " Alkaid cast, sending dozens of deadly energy beams to hammer the golem whose shields buckled under the strain. Dozens fell but even as they did, their creators, the children of Hecate riding the advancing construct, simply replaced them with new ones.

Undeterred, Alkaid kept casting. " **επικαλούνται: Εκατό δολοφονία [Invoke: Hundred Head Massacre]!** "

Nine massive lasers slammed into the golem but again, its creators weathered the assault unscathed even as dozens of their replaceable shields collapsed.

Alkaid growled in frustration, but kept casting. Sending one devastatingly powerful spell after another at the golem which just marched forward relentlessly unfazed by her attempts to destroy it. In moments it had crossed the no man's land, and without so much as missing a beat effortlessly proceeded to rip a whole section of Camp's walls apart like so much wet paper.

This depressing sight was only added to when a massive shadow shot into the air from the Labyrinth behind the golem's immense bulk. It came to a stop over the construct and surveyed the battlefield with malicious eyes. It was a creature which had the upper body of a human woman, like a centaur, but with reptilian skin and a dragon lower half, with gigantic claws. Her dragon half was black as night with white stripes running down her back. She had huge dark reptilian wings, an intimidating venom-dripping scorpion tail, and at the point where her halves met, her skin bubbled and morphed, occasionally producing ferocious mutated animal heads that constantly changed shape between bear, boar, wombat, tiger, crocodile, wolf, and everything in between like a gruesome, monstrous belt. To top her horrific visage off, hundreds of violent darting vipers sprouted from her legs.

"Shit." Alkaid silently cursed.

Kampê, jailer of Tartarus, had entered the field.

* * *

Not everyone was as rattled by the arrival of Kampê as Camp's Assistant Activities Director.

Her sister Bianca for example was a little more preoccupied with feeling lousy about how she was not having a good day. She knew someday she was going to have to fight but how she wished that it was further off. As the booming of Big Sister's spells tapered off, damn that stone goliath to the Pits, she communicated with her familiar.

 _Okay, we need to clear that phalanx._ She telepathically told the Faceless. A neat trick her familiar had taught her.

 _I have just the trick in mind._ The creature of darkness said, sounding practically giddy at the prospect of the carnage it was about to cause. Was it weird that its bloodlust was bleeding over their connection? _I think those ladies could do with a little helping of Mass Confusion!_

As he named his technique a nimbus of purple psychic energy surrounded the phalanx of Dracaenae and sent them into a frenzy. What had moments before been a disciplined formation the likes of which the Ancient Greeks would have envied, immediately devolved into madness as the snakewomen first froze then begin shifting around in confusion. They were so lost that they even began dropping their long sarissas, or in some more extreme cases began stabbing at the air with them in a panic. This, of course, led to them occasionally stabbing one of their own ilk and thus prompted retaliation. As a result, swords were drawn and soon the whole contingent of Dracaenae had turned on each other.

"By the gods," Bianca breathed out in horrified wonder from her hiding spot atop the walls.

"Impressive, no?" Her familiar asked proudly as he materialized next to her. Sheer sadistic glee wafting off him.

The daughter of Hades could only nod numbly as she saw her enemies butcher each other. Her little brother however was much more vocal.

"It totally is," Nico said, sounding impressed, his eyes bouncing all over the crazed formation. "Now, to finish those slimy snakes off. At my command, rise!"

At his theatrical command, the earth next to the Dracanae melee exploded to reveal a small squad of a dozen skeletal dragoons who charged into the flank of the confused snakewomen's formation, shattering it and cutting dozens of them down with their sabres as they stampeded their way through to the other side before wheeling around to do the same once more.

Within moments, between the internecine slaughter and the charges of Nico's cavalry, the Dracanae that once numbered in the hundreds were reduced to nothing more than piles of golden dust.

"I-It's over." Bianca observed with a shuddering breath.

"It is? Good," Nico said as he fell backwards into the waiting arms of Bianca's familiar. "I need a nap."

Bianca panicked and barely noticed as her brother's skeletal horsemen disintegrated back into the dust from which their unlife had been forged. Instead, she rushed to Nico's side.

"Nico, are you alright?"

"He's unconscious," her familiar informed the daughter of Hades. "It appears summoning those undead horseman has drained him."

The sound of a nearby explosion reminded Bianca where she was and a determined look entered her eyes. She had to keep her brother safe.

"We're retreating to the field hospital." She ordered her familiar. "Carry Nico. I'll clear us a path."

The Faceless looked at her approvingly and fell in behind her as they moved towards a staircase. They were confronted by a trio of empousai coming up but Bianca didn't even hesitate as she ordered the shadows around her to life and had them move like scything blades that proceeded to tear the bloodsucking monsters to shreds.

Darkness bled from Bianca's fingertips and she panted a little at the effort but she didn't break her stride as she marched down the stairs, not once even sparing the piles of gold dust she'd created so much as a glance nor did she take note of how the darkness around her danced in her sway, eagerly clearing the path ahead of her of threats or obstruction.

All she cared about in that moment was getting Nico to safety and woe betide anyone or anything that stood in her way.

* * *

While Bianca might not have paid Kampê much attention, Pyrrha certainly did. Especially when the ancient monster dove down from the air and slammed into the Campers' already strained lines just a few yards down from where she was standing.

"Fight you idiots!" The daughter of Ares shouted as encouragingly as she could, even as she pulled out a few select potions out of the dimensional pocket built into Akoúo̱ while rushing towards where Kronos' jailer was looming menacingly over a squad of Campers that were too terrified to move. "Fight!"

"Easier said than done, child of war." The ancient horror said as a pair of wicked sickles materialized into its hands from thin air. "I have struck fear in even the dread Hekatonkheire, what more a pack of mortal demigods?"

At this taunting observation, Kampê swept her sickles down in a scissoring motion that would have bisected the entire squad of paralyzed Campers.

"Not on my watch," Pyrrha growled even as she tossed the potion vials she'd extracted at the monster. The beast responded by swiping them out of the sky with one of her sickles, a move that caused the volatile concoctions within to detonate in a powerful explosion. This did not overly faze the ancient horror though and her other sickle followed through on its original motion and cut down a half dozen Campers in a single terrifying display of Kampê's power.

"No!" Pyrrha roared as she palmed more potions.

Tossing these new potions at the beast she brought Miló to bear as well.

"More explosives, little godling?" Kampê asked as she casually cut the potion vials in half with her sickles, only for them to _not_ explode. Instead, the ruptured vials led to a large amount of a thick viscous liquid splattering all over the monster.

"Eat this!" Pyrrha roared as with a flick of her wrist, she had Miló release a gout of angry red flames at Kampê that proceeded to set the napalm like potion that she'd tossed onto the unsuspecting monster ablaze.

"A touch better," the ancient abomination said as it marched towards Pyrrha. "At least this manages to make me feel uncomfortable."

 _Come on, just a little more._ The redhead though as she backpedaled towards their second defensive line and the trap that 'Kaidy had set up along it.

"Yeah? Well, I have plenty more where they came from!" Pyrrha taunted as she pulled another set of potions out of Akoúo̱.

As she threw it, Kampê once again struck them out of the air with a casual swipe of her weapon. The spray of liquid in the vial pelted both the creature and one of her weapons. The hissing bubbling concoction sizzled, the magical acid earning a grunt from the jail keeper as her skin blistered from exposure to the toxic potion.

"That actually stung." The feminine beast mused playfully as she took the final step into Pyrrha's trap.

"Then this should really smart!" Pyrrha shouted as suddenly the ground that marked the entire second defensive line glowed a blood red before walls of magical energy of the same sanguine color shot up from it and formed a dome around the area of Camp within its confines.

"W-What is this?" Kampê hissed as she staggered under the draining effects of 'Kaidy's prepared spell.

"Something my wife cooked up," Pyrrha informed it with a vicious grin. "She calls it **επικαλούνται: ο Ναός του αίματος** **[Incantare: Templum Sanguinis/Invoke: Temple of Blood]**. I'll let you guess what it does. Now!"

That last shouted word was addressed to the squad of her siblings she'd left behind to attempt to save the ill fated Campers Kampê had slain. At her command, they burst out of the hidden trenches they'd built behind the second defensive line with long Celestial Bronze xyston that they proceeded to use to stab at the ancient jailer of the Crooked One.

Drawing her labrys, Pyrrha joined the fray. The daughter of war's movements were swift as the wind as the lances tried to bite into Kampê's flank and failed as she parried four of her siblings even with her dwindling strength.

"Fools!" The ancient monster roared as she batted Pyrrha away with a swipe of her tail. "Do you honestly think that even with your little spell draining me that you stand any chance?"

"Won't know until we try." Pyrrha shot back as she jumped back to her feet and charged once more. "Besides, who says 'Kaidy's spell only drains the enemy?"

As if on cue, it was just as Pyrrha finished her leading remark that 'Kaidy decided to make use of all the magical power the Temple of Blood was siphoning from the invaders to renew her assault on the Hecate kids' golem in the form of a set of bright beams that were so intense they dyed the whole battlefield a brilliant green. That this was accompanied by another shot from the laser cannon, that was again unfortunately deflected, was the perfect signal for the Campers to counterattack.

Something that Pyrrha herself was fully committed to as she leapt into the air towards Kampê, her labrys raised high and hungry to taste the abomination's blood.

* * *

Alkaid and the gunners at the laser cannon weren't the only ones who took the triggering of the Temple of Blood as their signal to initiate a counterattack. Percy had much the same idea, which was why he'd made his way to the beach with Tyson.

"Tyson, watch my back okay?" He told his cyclops brother. "This is gonna take a lot of my concentration, so if any monsters get clo-"

"I smash them." Tyson said loyally, smacking his club firmly into his free palm. "Tyson keep Percy safe."

"I know you will, buddy." Percy told him with a smile, before taking a deep breath and steeling his nerves for what he planned to do next. It would be the biggest deliberate use of his powers ever and he was honestly worried he couldn't pull it off. But he _needed_ to. His friends were counting on him to.

It was that last thought that gave him the strength and resolve to pull on the ocean like he'd never pulled before.

In response the waters of the Long Island Sound churned and roiled as they heard his call.

 _I can do this._ Percy told himself even as sweat began accumulating on his brow from the increasing strain. He ignored it though and narrowed his eyes at the most pesky of the enemies, the enemy harpies. The rest of the enemy army he was sure they could handle but only if they could make use of their artillery, but in order to do that the harpies needed to go. Now.

"Eat water, you backstabbing cleaning ladies!" Percy roared as he unleashed the fury of the seas he'd been stoking until now.

As he did, geysers of water shot out of Long Island Sound like pressure jets that proceeded to shoot whole flocks of the enemy bird women out of the air. Even as this initial barrage ended, tentacles of water emerged out of the roiling sea seemingly of their own will, Percy himself definitely weren't controlling them, and began stretching over Camp to wreak havoc among the enemy fliers.

 _Is that dad helping out?_ Percy thought as he saw one of the liquid tentacles wrap itself around a flock of the harpies and proceed to constrict them to death.

"Percy!" Tyson shouted sounding concerned. "Something coming. From the sea."

"Wha-"

Before Percy could even finish, a volley of heavy headed ballista bolts shot out of the sea and into the already chaotic swarms of the enemy harpies. Spinning around, Percy saw figures wading out of the waters, marching up to the beach. In full armor were what seemed to be a company of cyclops carrying _repeating_ ballistae like they were simple crossbows.

"Well met brothers of the seas," the lead cyclops said as he marched over with one of the massive ballista in its arms that it proceeded to fire from the hip to take out an adventurous hellhound closing in on them and with another of the weapons strapped to its back. "Lord Poseidon thought you might need some help?"

"We do," Percy admitted as he accepted a flask of nectar that the cyclops offered.

"Nice crossbow," Tyson said as he inspected the spare ballista that he was handed instead. "Good at killing wicked bird ladies?"

"Good enough," the cyclops said with a grin as it took down a harpy stupid enough to fly close by.

"Still too tiny, but it do." One of the other cyclops lamented.

"Suck it up," another shouted. "They rush job. Good enough is good enough."

Percy could only wonder what was big enough for these guys.

Such thoughts were shelved though when the skies above suddenly thundered ominously.

"Oh shit! Looks like Uncle is angry." Percy hissed as he eyed the brewing storm clouds above Camp warily.

He needn't have. As instead of some kind of indignant display of pique, for once Zeus seemed to have decided to actually be _useful_. Bolts of lightning crisscrossed the sky and seemed to begin a competition with the watery tentacles on how many harpies they could kill, skewering dozens per bolt and reducing them to gold dust. From amidst the same storm that spawned the electrical lightshow there also emerged a flock of giant eagles led by no less than the Caucasian Eagle itself, which dove at the harpies and began to, in some cases quite literally, have the bird women as dinner.

"Leave it to the Big Three's sibling rivalry to end up saving the day." Percy commented dryly.

He got a round of nods from the reinforcements.

"It's gotta do a good thing once in a while I guess?" The leader said with a shrug. "I mean everything has to eventually, right?"

"Tyson confused."

"Don't sweat it, big guy." Percy told his brother. "I'll explain it later. For now, why don't you use that new crossbow of yours and help me kill some evil monsters."

"Kill bad monsters? Tyson knows how to do that." The young cyclops said as he shouldered his new weapon enthusiastically. "We go kill bad monsters!"

"You heard the boy, lads." The leader of the cyclops company addressed his men. "Let's get this show on the road. Charge!"

With a roar that shook the earth, Percy and his cyclops allies made good on their words and sprinted towards the enemy.

* * *

In Annabeth's honest opinion, things were improving. Sure they still had that enormous golem and Kampê to deal with but both were contained. The former by Alkaid's constant magical bombardment and the latter by Pyrrha and the rest of Cabin Five. With the harpies now seemingly under control thanks to help from Lord Poseidon and Lord Zeus, their artillery was getting back into the game too and that was starting to make a big difference. Combine that with the rout of the Dracanae by the di Angelos and things were even starting to look good. Of the truly dangerous enemies, the only ones still unchecked were the Laistrygonian artillery and she was determined to change that.

Even if her squad was having a hard time attempting to reach them.

 _Of course Alkaid's spell doesn't even help with that. There's too many to show a real difference._ The honey blonde girl griped.

"Stop whining in your head Annabeth and focus on fighting!" Lee Fletcher said from nearby as he filled the mouth of a drakon with arrows that promptly exploded as he detonated their Greek fire charges, killing the serpentine monster.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Fletcher!" Annabeth shot back as she danced around an empousai and gutted it like a fish with her dagger in the process.

"Oh please!" Lee shot back. "You're thinking badly of Alkaid again. It's all over your face."

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

"Will you two shut up!" Austin Lake, one of Lee's brothers shouted, as he hastily backpedaled from a hellhound advancing on him as his quiver ran empty and he was forced to switch to his sword. "Some of us actually need to pay attention when we're fighting! And just FYI Chase, you're totally making a face."

"Am not!"

"You totally are," Castor informed her as he took out the hellhound menacing Austin and tossed the young boy a new quiver full of arrows.

"What part of shut up did you all not understand?" Silena Beauregard, the counselor of Cabin Ten, reminded everyone. " _Stop chattering and focus on fighting!_ "

She added that last bit with a healthy dose of her mother Aphrodite's fabled Charmspeak and Annabeth immediately felt the compulsion to obey. Snapping her mouth shut, she focused her attention back on the matter at hand.

That probably saved her life as a boy blurred into being directly in front of her and stabbed down at her heart with a switchblade that was glowing unnaturally. Acting reflexively as her training had drilled her to, Annabeth spun out of the way of her attacker's lunge and behind him. It was only as she plunged her knife into his flesh and through his heart that her mind caught up to her and she realised she'd just killed another human being.

 _That was Keith…_ Annabeth realized as the boy died on her blade, her traitorous thoughts setting her mind ablaze at the recognition. _He was a nice guy… He liked pudding... He was a son of Hermes and a wizard..._

The horror of that was just sinking in when a voice with a terribly mangled Southern accent caught her attention.

"More meat to charbroil!" The voice bellowed from just up ahead had the daughter of Athena looking up as she pulled her knife out of the corpse of the traitorous demigod to see a group of the Laistrygonians she'd been hunting leveling their cannons in her direction.

"Scatter!" Lee shouted, but Annabeth knew it was too late. The giants had somehow snuck up on them from out of nowhere.

 _Probably using whatever invisibility trick that Keith was using._

"They see us?" One of the witless giants asked. "The boy's invisibility spell ran out?"

"Duh," another of the giants replied. "He's dead ain't he? Of course his spell will run out."

"Oh right."

"Shut up, you idiots! Shoot them!" A empousai standing next to the Laistrygonians shouted at the giants in exasperation.

"Nah! Let them run like headless chickens for a bit first." One of the giants countered. "It's more fun."

Their sadistic hesitation cost them though as it bought enough time for a massive bolt of water to slam right into the middle of their group. It hit with enough force to send some of the giants flying and the rest sprawling to the ground. As if that was not enough misery for them, and Annabeth honestly felt there was no such thing, at the centre of the splash down now stood Percy, Riptide already swinging in deadly arcs.

A cheer spread among the Campers at the sight but the daughter of wisdom didn't join in. She too busy moving to reinforce him. Rushing into the chaotic melee, her dagger sang in the air as she took down as many of the Laistrygonian as she could. All around her Campers rushed to join her. Faced with this, the giants stood little chance and were soon little more than gold dust.

"Thanks Percy," Annabeth told the son of Poseidon as he took down the last Laistrygonian. "You saved us."

"Don't mention it," the boy said, radiating deadly intent. Not for the first time Annabeth had to suppress a shiver at how scary Percy became when he got serious. The way he became a killing machine straight out of the legends was both heartening and terrifying. "Where next?"

Annabeth didn't answer immediately and instead took a minute to survey the battlefield. A quick glance at the fight between Ares Cabin and Kampê told her that it was going surprisingly well. Pyrrha and her squad were barely keeping the monstrous jailer contained but considering what they were facing, that was probably to be expected.

 _If that's the case then the only remaining threat is the golem._ Turning towards it, she saw it standing largely unimpeded except for Alkaid's continuing futile magical barrage.

"Why aren't we attacking the golem? It's the bigger threat here." Annabeth stated as she loathed to admit Alkaid could likely single handedly win the battle if only that magical grounding rod was taken out.

Percy shook his head, "The cyclopes told me someone else was covering it."

"Who?" The child of Athena asked with puzzlement.

Her friend shrugged in reply.

"Uh guys," Lee's shocked voice cut into the conversation. "Maybe they meant _that_ guy?"

Looking in the direction of the beach where the son of Apollo was pointing, Annabeth found herself staring at a sight straight out of a kaiju movie. Stepping out of the waves of Long Island Sound was a massive automaton, easily as tall as the Hecate kids' golem, that was designed to look like a Ancient Greek warrior with its chiseled muscles and classical hoplite armor. The colossus lacked the weapons of one though, but it more than made up for it with the massive war pick it carried over its shoulder.

"Sweet Olympus."

* * *

"Time to earn our redemption, Talos." Daedalus said as he and his former apprentice stepped out of the sea and into the battlefield that Camp Half Blood had become. From his vantage point on Talos' shoulder he could see the desperate struggle that had been fought as a result of his foolish actions and for the umpeenth time he cursed himself for his mistakes.

"Redemption," the monster that the other man had become said in agreement.

"No more running, no more hiding for my crimes." Daedalus gulped as tried to calm his nerves. The centuries of evading his mother, Thanatos' chilling grasp and more bubbled up to the front of his mind. "One big heroic act. That can make all the difference."

"It must," the colossus agreed even as it shifted its grip on the war pick they'd specially designed to smash magical barriers into a ready position. "We will save the children of the gods and receive clemency."

"I know I don't deserve Elysium but I'll be satisfied if I get Asphodel."

"Death. True death. Freedom from Tartarus." Talos countered. "That is enough for me."

"That too my friend, that too."

The Hecate children had noticed them now and they were turning their golem towards them. It's long gorilla like arms gave it a superior reach and it used this to its advantage to attempt to swipe at them. Unfortunately for the children, Talos was no mere automaton. He was a genuine soul trapped in a machine and so acted like it. Moving with agility that far exceeded the parameters of even the most well crafted machines, he dodged the attack and brought the war pick down hard on the golem's layered magical shield shattering a dozen of them at once.

"Mrs. Potter, now!" Daedalus shouted, using one of the many devices he'd built into his automaton body to project his voice over the whole of Camp.

It probably was unnecessary as almost as soon as the words left his mouth, a truly massive beam of energy slammed into the golem from behind and shattered its remaining shields before cutting out. In response the Hecate children scrambled to raise new barriers, but Daedalus and Talos weren't about to give them the luxury.

Bringing the war pick down once more they smashed the head of the golem in, crushing a dozen or so of Hecate's children in the process and sending the rest fleeing in a panic, their spellcasting forgotten. To further add to their misery, Daedalus whistled sharply to summon his pet hellhound Mrs. O'Leary which he proceeded to order to harass them.

"Kick it while it's down," Daedalus urged his former apprentice.

Talos obliged, kicking the unsteady golem and sending it toppling over and undoubtedly killing more of Hecate's brood in the process.

The sound of something hurtling down from on high had Daedalus looking up and paling slightly at what he saw. Seven meteors were flying towards where he was standing.

"Talos!"

"I see them." The colossus replied as he confidently stepped back. "That daughter of Hades you told me about must be incredibly powerful."

"She is," Daedalus admitted as they both watched as the seven chunks of heavenly rock slammed into the beleaguered golem with the force of mortal atomic bombs. It likely would have leveled the whole area but Mrs. Potter had been wise enough, or vindictive enough, to create a cage of barriers to trap the force of the impact around the golem. That this amplified the intensity of the forces unleashed on that patch of land was something that she probably thought quite fitting.

When the last signs of the explosion cleared and Mrs. Potter's shields faded, all that was left of where the golem had lay was a glassed wasteland.

Confronted by such terrible power being brought against them, Daedalus was not at all surprised when the Titans' army's morale instantly collapsed and they began to turn tail.

"It's not as heroic as I'd hoped, but I'm not adverse to stomping on some enemies of the gods." Talos said as he looked away from the devastation Mrs. Potter had unleashed and stepped on a fleeing pack of empousai.

Daedalus chuckled. "I'm sure the gods will understand. Mrs. O'Leary have fun!"

Taking his words for the command it was, his pet let out a joyful howl before proceeding to tear into a squad of Laistrygonian skirmishers.

 _Please Mother, I pledge this victory to you._ Daedelus prayed for what felt like the first time in a long, long time. _May it be enough to let me have my redemption._

* * *

Chiron was feeling overwhelmed. Yes, he'd been in battles before both as a combatant and as a physician but not in a very long time. He had thus forgotten what it had felt like to be a battlefield doctor. How heartbreaking it was to see his beloved charges come into his field hospital battered or broken, if at all.

He nevertheless pushed aside such thoughts and focused on the matter at hand as he wrapped a splint around little Valentina Diaz's broken leg even as Will Solace fed the daughter of Aphrodite some ambrosia.

He was just finished with tightening the knot on Valentina's bandage when a ruckus at the entrance to the bunker had him turning and reaching for his bow.

"What happened to Uncle Nico?" Mina, the goddess of serial killers and the field hospital's protector, asked dangerously as Bianca di Angelo entered with her unconscious brother cradled in the arms of her Faceless familiar that was dutifully following behind her.

"He's fine," the younger of Hades' mortal daughters reassured her godly niece. "He just overdid it with his necromancy is all."

"You sure?" The murderous little goddess asked as she fussed over her young uncle.

"My mistress speaks the truth, little goddess." The Faceless told the silver haired murderer.

"Let me check him over nonetheless," Chiron insisted as he walked over.

"Certainly," the creature of darkness said as he gently placed the son of Hades on a nearby empty cot and the immortal centaur began an examination.

"How is it out there?" Will asked as he brought over some ambrosia as Chiron wordlessly requested.

"Talos and Big Sister just took out the golem," Bianca said munching on the ambrosia squares that Will passed her. "With it outta the way, I think we're pretty close to winning."

"Nico is fine." Chiron declared much to Bianca and Mina's relief. "He just needs some rest and a little ambrosia. Will please help him with that."

"Yes sir," the son of Apollo said as he moved to help the unconscious boy swallow some of the food of the gods.

"Bianca," Chiron asked as he moved to another patient. "Finish those squares before you go, and Talos? Why is he here?"

"Dunno," the daughter of Hades said with a shrug. "Daedalus brought him. They were saying something about redemption but I'm not sure what they meant exactly."

Chiron nodded distractedly as he checked the state of the burns the daughter of Demeter Billie Ng received from a stray shot from the Laistrygonians' lava cannons.

"I should head back out." Bianca gulped down her last ambrosia square. "Keep an eye on Nico please."

The young girl didn't even wait for a reply as she hastily left, the nameless being that was her familiar floating behind her. Chiron however could see her nervousness though, as if she had expectations of herself that were higher than the rest of the Campers. Expectations that she feared she could not meet.

 _She's probably comparing herself to her sister._ The wise old centaur mused. _I'll have to talk to her about that. Probably Alkaid as well. They need to realize that Bianca is her own person and doesn't need to live up to anyone's standards but her own._

These were thoughts for another time though and the Trainer of Heroes pushed them aside for later. He had patients to treat. He could worry about his charges' development later when they weren't in a life or death battle.

* * *

Grover Underwood had been acting as one of the spotters for the restored artillery when Talos had walked out of the sea and smacked the Hecate kids' golem a new one. He'd thought that was crazy but then Alkaid had to top _that_ by literally dropping a meteor shower on it to finish the golem off... It was like something straight out of a disaster movie.

In light of that Grover really couldn't fault the Titans' troops for bolting.

 _Okay, a meteor shower. Why not?_ Grover gulped as he tried his best to temper his nerves. _Come on, Grover! Get your act together! You did what no satyr could do! You found Pan! Now just give the stupid directions._

"G-Grid 13-24." The satyr managed to bark into his radio handset as he gulped down his fear.

His reply was a burst of scatter shot from the howitzers that rained acid on a mass of assorted monsters as they fled that left them screaming in agony as it ate away at their bodies.

 _T-This is war, huh? I never thought it would be this bad._ The young nature spirit thought as he offered a prayer for the monsters.

Perhaps having sympathy for his enemies jinxed him, but Grover had barely finished his prayer when suddenly a furious hiss from behind him had the satyr spinning around to come face to face with a Aethiopian Drakon slithering towards him.

The sight of the terrifying monster zeroing in on him caused him so much terror that he wet himself and cried out in fright. He wasn't the only one though as his cry seemed to somehow resonate through the air and carry with it a sense of raw fear that spread through the whole battlefield.

It caused the drakon to rear back and hastily slither away, acting like it had suddenly been confronted by something that scared its scales off.

He tapped his throat a few times, blinking in bewilderment.

"Uh, excuse me?" Grover asked while letting out a nervous bleet.

He got nothing but cheers from the half-bloods all over Camp.

Now he just had to make sure they didn't notice the moist ground beneath him.

Juniper could never know.

"Don't worry. We won't tell Juniper," Percy reassured him as he ran over to help him up, casually cutting down a fleeing empousai as he did. "But what in the world was that cry?"

"Lord Pan's Panic probably," Annabeth hypothesized as she pulled her dagger out of the body of a Dracanae that was already collapsing into gold dust as she joined them. "He did gift you with part of his power when he faded."

Their conversation was interrupted when a terrible roar, almost but not quite, as powerful as Grover's cry earlier resounded across Camp.

"Hold your positions you cowards!" Kampê hissed at her troops even as she fended off Pyrrha and her siblings who were still struggling to contain her. "We still outnumber them! We can still win!"

"Anyone up to helping Cabin Five with that?" Percy asked sounding eager.

"I don't think that's necessary," Annabeth said with an annoyed look as she pointed to where a sliver glow was building in intensity.

* * *

Alkaid was taking a break after felling the pesky golem and drinking some nectar to recharge, while of course admiring her handiwork when unexpectedly a long fear inducing roar echoed across the battlefield.

Snapping her head towards the source, she narrowed her eyes. _Is that Panic? Seems Pan gifted the questers right before he faded. Wish I knew that from the start, but better late than never._

The following weaker roar from Kampê as she tried to rally her troops took her attention away just as quickly. It seemed despite their best efforts, Pyrrha and her siblings were still having trouble taking down the Crooked One's ancient jailer.

 _Well, we can't have that now can we?_ The daughter of Hades thought vindictively as she prepared a spell.

"Oh look, someone's distracted~" Alkaid as she formed her fingers into a gun-like pose. " **επικαλούνται: σκορπιός βέλος** **[Invoke: Scorpion Arrow]**."

She snapped her finger upwards even as she finished her incantation, playfully making it seem like she was firing her spell off like a gun and sent a silver star bolt flying towards the distant form of the ancient abomination.

"Feeling playful, huh?" Malcolm asked from where he was coming up from the HQ bunker to talk to her.

"I was in the mood," Alkaid cheekily replied with a shrug.

The silver celestial arrow struck true, slamming into Kampê's shoulder and causing it to explode in a shower of gore.

"Well can't say that it wasn't effective," Malcolm replied giving his own shrug. "Anyways, just wanted to tell you that it looks like we've won. The enemy is in a full rout."

"Really?" Alkaid asked him skeptically. "Because from my perspective we still have Kampê and an army in Camp. That doesn't exactly seem like we've won yet."

"About that," Malcolm said with a smirk that said he knew something. "We might not have to worry about Kampê much longer."

"Why? Are you asking me or Talos to finish her?" Alkaid asked gesturing to the colossus who was busy stomping on the fleeing monsters. "Because news flash, Talos looks kinda distracted and even with that nectar just now I'm still quite drained."

"Nope, wasn't talking about either of you." The son of Athena said with a cheeky grin. "Let's just say we've spotted someone on the way."

"Oh?"

Her answer came in the form of earth shaking steps from the East. Turning in that direction, she was greeted with the sight of the Hekatonkheire Briares standing at his full height with massive boulders in each of his hundred hands.

"Malcolm, you are a cheeky little boy." Alkaid praised, a twinkle in her eye. "Good work."

"I try."

"Kampê!" The hundred handed giant roared. "I'm not afraid of you anymore!"

He followed this declaration by tossing the first of his rocks at his ancient nemesis. Alkaid would have worried about Pyrrha and her siblings at the sight, except unlike their opponent they'd recognized the danger and had fled. Kampê for her part seemed too stunned that Briares had shown up at all to do anything but stare at him in shock even as a literal mountain of rocks was tossed at her. By the time she'd even thought to take flight in a bid to escape, it was far too late and she was utterly flattened under the sheer weight of the earth being thrown her way.

"Well that's that," Malcolm said with a grin.

"Not quite," Gracie shouted out from the HQ bunker. "Cameras are showing Castellan trying to rally the enemy."

Alkaid exchanged a look with Malcolm at that. "Take a look?"

The sorceress' reply was to head down into the bunker where they found a screen was displaying how the son of Hermes stupidly was trying, even under arrow fire, to salvage his failure of a cause.

"Come on, someone get a lucky shot." Malcolm prayed under his breath.

"Lee is saying he's in position," one of Malcolm's siblings said from the console he was manning.

"Then tell him to take the shot," Alkaid said coldly. "It is well past time to end this."

With bated breath the whole HQ watched as a hail of arrows from Lee and his siblings rained down on Castellan's position. To the son of Hermes' credit he managed to cut down a handful with his exemplary swordwork but a sword was no effective defense against a arrow barrage and soon he took an arrow to the knee. Collapsing to a kneeling position from what must have been an incredibly painful wound, his guard completely collapsed and he was soon peppered with so many arrows that he looked little better than the straw dummies at the archery range after a practice session.

Unfortunately none of them seemed immediately fatal and he collapsed onto his back in agony. The Apollo Cabin archers were probably preparing for another volley when a Drakon of all things interposed its body between Castellan and their firing position, shielding the traitor even as a pair of his similarly traitorous half-blood fellows grabbed him and took off running.

"We can only pray his wounds fester." The sorceress stated coldly, her hands balled tightly. "Did Lee have time to lace the arrows?"

Some murmuring followed the question and she was given a negative response.

"Worth a shot." Alkaid sighed aggravatedly as she pinched the bridge of her nose as she saw the Apollo cabin take out the drakon with a barrage of Greek fire explosive arrows.

"Lee is asking for permission to pursue," a son of Hermes operating a station informed the room.

"Tell him no," Alkaid said after a quick glance at the tactical map. "He's too close to the Camp boundaries as is. Have him pull back and help with the mop up. We need to focus on securing Camp, not hunting down our fleeing enemies."

"But if we can take out Luke-"

"Then, Malcolm, the Crooked One will just find a new pawn to take his place." Alkaid reasoned. "Rather than obsessing over revenge, we need to focus on consolidating our position and repairing our defenses."

"Plus better the one we know than the one we don't?" The son of Athena asked unhappily.

"Exactly."

"You're one cold bitch, you know that?" Malcolm snorted as he eyed her. "And I'm glad for it. It's exactly what we need right now."

Alkaid just nodded and began barking orders for the Campers to shift from combat operations to mop up. The battle was won, now it was time to prepare for the next one.

* * *

 **Done and done! Thanks to Nameless and Axios for help as always!**

 **And thus, the battle has ended… for now!**

 **Nameless: And we once more try our hand at an epic battle. Hope you guys liked it. Reviewers have previously expressed that we do such scenes well, so let us know if we lived up to that high praise.**

 **I know we went nuts with the prep work from Alkaid, but this is a girl that likes to munchkin all her stuff for fights on this scale. I mean, she's going to go all out and break out the good old ink and spellwork.**

 **Nameless: And she had a blank cheque from her Father to do it, of course she'd go overboard. And thank goodness she did, no? After all, it's because of it that Poseidon and Zeus got their excuses to intervene too. Was that part of Alkaid's plan from the get go? Well...**

 **The multi-POVs were fun to look into. Shows a lot of angles and the character perspectives. Chiron's (Just for his caring of the Campers in general) and Bianca's (Despite how new she is to the demigod life, she's trying to be a good sister to both Nico and Alkaid by being able to stand on her own as one) were the most interesting at least to me, with Annabeth's coming in second since it lets us get into her prideful little head.**

 **Nameless: Percy and Annabeth didn't really get a chance to shine against Kampê, huh? Well, considering that we had Pyrrha heading her off, we couldn't exactly work out a way to have them butt in. Stealing kills/glory are a big deal to Cabin Five after all as the events of** _ **The Last Olympian**_ **showed, so of course the other Campers would hold back so long as the Ares kids looked like they had things under control. Wonder how Cabin Five feels about Briares though… Hmm… Something to consider.**

 **You know what to do! Smash that review button and tell us what you love! No flames and peace out my peeps!**


	24. Chapter 24

**Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson or Harry Potter.**

 **Consul of the Underworld: Grinding Phase**

 **Chapter Twenty Four: Japanese Emergency**

 **Beta: ShadowofAxios**

* * *

Alkaid sat at her writing desk in her room in the Big House and looked through Camp's mail, one of the many less pleasant but necessary duties that she had to carry out as its Assistant Activities Director.

"Bill, bill," Alkaid said as she sorted the aforementioned bills into a pile to make payment later. "Bill, and what's this?"

The out of place letter had a cream envelope with a beautiful border of sakura petals and was addressed directly to her.

"Hmm... I wonder who this is from," the daughter of Hades hummed curiously. "Guess I should check it out."

Reaching over to a letter opener she'd had at the ready on the table, she used it to elegantly cut the envelope open to reveal a folded piece of sakura scented lined paper with a beautiful watermark that Alkaid recognized as the magic circle of the Sorceress Supreme.

 _Not that there was any doubt who the letter was from what with the recurring sakura theme it had going for it._

Shaking her head at the excessive theming - and including it in _stationery_ to such a degree was definitely excessive - Alkaid began reading the letter. As she did however, she couldn't help but frown.

"She wants me to go to Japan?" The sorceress asked incredulously. "Even if this splinter group of her disciples she's talking about has aligned themselves with Kronos, expecting me to fly over just to deal with them is too much."

And that was not even considering all the work the daughter of Hades currently had on her plate. She was far too busy assisting the Camp with rebuilding in the aftermath of the Battle of Zeus' Fist. That was in addition to planning the Campers' increasingly dangerous missions in the ever escalating war. Of note was the mission that she'd been working on for the past week: a planned assault on the repaired Princess Andromeda. With all that work, she simply did not have the time to travel to Japan to deal with a bunch of renegade magicians.

Tapping the letter on the desk, her lips formed a frown as she pondered what to do.

"You should accept," Mr. D's voice said from behind her.

Spinning around, she found the god seated on one of the chairs she'd set up alongside a small table next to a window that she occasionally used as a dining area when she didn't feel like going down to the Dining Pavilion.

"And why is that?" Alkaid asked curiously. It was odd enough for the Camp Director to just appear in her room uninvited, but to also make such a leading suggestion on what she should do? That was unprecedented.

"Actually, you must go," the god of wine insisted, conveniently evading her question. "The gods demand it."

"Again, I ask why." Alkaid repeated. She wasn't about to act without at least some answers.

"Most just go do whatever we want when we tell them to." Mr. D said with a sigh. "Though I guess someone in your position does deserve a little more leeway."

"I'm so glad that my years of service has earned me _that_ much," Alkaid shot back sarcastically.

"Ah, good flowery words. Now onto why, simply put we got a demand from a power that cannot be ignored."

"Demands don't sound like something Sakura would do," Alkaid pointed out thoughtfully. "Even her letter was phrased more like a request than anything."

"Oh, it isn't Miss All Powerful Immortal Sorceress." Mr. D said with a snort. "That girl, for all her power, is too nice."

"Who then?"

"I'm afraid, Alkaid, you haven't quite earned the privilege to know that." Mr. D informed her as he stood. "Though I'm sure you'll find out soon enough anyway."

With that he disappeared as quietly as he'd arrived.

"Now I have to pack."

* * *

Teleporting to Sakura's mansion in Tomoeda, Japan was quite the experience for Alkaid. Not only was it an intercontinental teleport, which was always a little draining, but it also involved travelling through more wards than she was sure were active on Mount Olympus outside of a war. Thankfully they were expected guests so the wards didn't deliver them to whatever dark fate they had in store for intruders, but the feeling of power that the sorceress felt as she passed them by gave her goosebumps.

"So we're here," Pyrrha said as she surveyed the traditional Japanese garden they found themselves in. "Where do we go now?"

"Yes we are." Alkaid smiled as she looked around. They were just by the front gate and Alkaid could see that just beyond it lay a town that was saturated with magic. More so than any place she'd ever been to before outside of mythic realms like the Underworld. A part of her wanted nothing more then to go exploring.

It must have shown on her face because Pyrrha tugged on her arm.

"Come on, we don't have time for sightseeing. We should get this done and then head back to Camp ASAP."

"Yes, of course." Alkaid cleared her throat, feeling flushed at her wanderlust getting the best of her.

"Ah, Potter-sama and Potter-sama," a pretty maid greeted them in flawless English and a bow from the porch of the traditional Japanese mansion that the garden surrounded. "We have been expecting you."

Remembering what she'd read of Japanese manners, Alkaid quickly returned the bow which caused Pyrrha to follow suit.

"Thank you."

"If you would be so kind, please follow me." The maid said as she opened the door to the building and gestured for the two demigods to proceed inside. "Sakura-sama has certainly already sensed your arrival and should be waiting for you in the living room."

Nodding, Alkaid led Pyrrha as they followed after the maid through the surprisingly Western interior of the house to a homely living room. Contrary to the maid's assertions however Sakura was not yet there.

"It seems Sakura-sama has been delayed." The maid said with an apologetic bow. "If you two would wait a moment, I'll go see what has kept her."

"Thank you," Alkaid said, offering the young woman a smile.

Bowing once more, the maid retreated leaving the two demigods to their own devices. Pyrrha took the time to get herself settled on one of the room's sofa. For her part, Alkaid chose instead to examine the room more closely. It looked normal enough. In fact, it looked like something out of an average, if wealthy, Japanese home. Certainly not one that belonged to the Sorceress Supreme.

There was one oddity however and that was a letter lying rather innocuously on a side table. The moment she'd glanced at the letter, it had triggered her magical senses eliciting a feeling like a gentle tug that called out to her. Walking over, the brunette picked up the letter which was oddly enough written in English.

 _Welcome to Japan, Alkaid! And Pyrrha! Can't forget your wife now can we?_

 _Now that you're here, we do hope you visit us soon. Hopefully without us having to apply_ more _pressure on you to do so._

 _Yours truly,_

 _The Amanos_

 _P.S. the Seer: We've dealt with the nuisance that you call Andromeda Azalea Potter of dimension E-four-E-dash-semicolon-alpha-omicron. Honestly, how you let a failure of a heroine that let her home reality die run amuck for as long as you did is just ridiculous. Well, we've cleaned up after you. Again. So you owe us. Understand?_

"Do we even want to know what that post script was?" Pyrrha arched a brow after Alkaid handed the letter to her for a read.

"I don't think so." Alkaid responded wearily as she took the letter back. "But I'm more concerned about who these Amanos are and why they insinuate that they're the ones who brought us here."

"And why they want to see us?"

"That too," Alkaid agreed with a nod.

She glanced at the letter again hoping to read it over again and gain some more insight, only to discover that it'd disappeared.

"That's creepy," Pyrrha deadpanned.

The sound of movement outside the room alerted the demigods that their hosts were about to arrive, so shaking her head Alkaid moved to stand next to her wife as she jumped to her feet.

"We can worry about whatever that was about later," Alkaid assured her wife. "Let's deal with the problem at hand first."

Pyrrha nodded in agreement just as the door to the room opened and Sakura entered. She was not alone however. Clutching tightly to her right arm was a handsome young man with spiky brown hair and brown eyes, while hanging on just as tightly to her left arm was an elegant beauty with porcelain-white skin, long, wavy, greyish-violet hair and startling purple eyes.

 _They must be Sakura's husband and her mistress._

Honestly, Alkaid didn't think she would be skilled enough to juggle a ménage à trois. Once more, Sakura proved to be an exceptional woman. Personally, Pyrrha was enough for her. The sorceress wasn't one for sharing. Though a mistress role play scenario was enticing… Note to self: work on that for wife.

Pyrrha herself looked stunned at the dynamic but thankfully didn't comment on it.

"Syaoran-kun, Tomoyo-chan," Sakura whined as the trio stumbled towards the two demigods. "Could you two let me go? It's difficult to walk like this."

 _That we're hearing this in English must mean there is a translation spell in place because I'm fairly sure Sakura won't talk to her lovers in anything other than her native Japanese._

"No," the woman, Tomoyo presumably, said firmly. "Syaoran-kun had you yesterday. Today's my turn."

"We're _working_ now, Tomoyo-chan," the man, Syaoran obviously, shot back. "So let Sakura-chan go so we can get down to it."

"Only if you let go first!"

"I'm escorting Sakura-chan."

"Hmph! How convenient for you then."

"Enough!" Sakura said, gently pushing both her lovers away from her with a burst of magic. "If you two can't behave, in front of guests no less, then I'm sleeping in my own room tonight."

Tomoyo gasped at this. "But Sakura-chan, you promised! Tonight we were going to reenact that scene from YuriHime for my collection!"

That certainly perked Alkaid's ears. She loved that series! It had given her so many ideas about things to do in bed with Pyrrha over the years.

"And we won't get to do it unless you behave," Sakura informed her mistress firmly, her cheeks a glowing pink. "Got it?"

"Hai," the violet eyed beauty said sounding throughly chastised.

Syaoran looked smug but that only lasted until Sakura rounded on him with a firm glare.

"And you Syaoran-kun," she said her voice radiating frustration. "Today _is_ Tomoyo's day with me. So stop trying to steal time with me on the pretext of work. Now, I'm going to let you stay for this meeting but only if you play nice, is that understood?"

"Hai," the man said, sounding just as chastised as his wife's other lover.

"Ehem," Alkaid coughed into her fist politely. "It is wonderful to see you again, Lady Sakura. Of course you know my wife, Pyrrha."

"Hello." The redhead said politely, still looking somewhat stunned at the earlier display.

"Hoe~!" Sakura cried out in dismay. "Apologies for letting you see that, Alkaid."

Tomoyo giggled while Syaoran looked embarrassed.

"It's not a problem, though a formal introduction might be in order."

"Of course," Tomoyo unexpectedly said as she stepped forward. "My name is Tomoyo Daidouji, Sakura's mistress and this gentleman is-"

"Syaoran Li," the man cut in. "Sakura's husband. And I can introduce myself."

Yes, one lover was all Alkaid wanted if this was the dysfunctionality in store when more were added into the mix. She couldn't fathom how Melinoe could handle this.

"Tomoyo-chan, Syaoran-kun, behave," Sakura warned her lovers sternly even as she gestured for everyone to sit.

Complying Alkaid sat down next to Pyrrha on the sofa the redhead had previously occupied, directly across from them in a rather cramped loveseat sat the Sorceress Supreme and her two lovers. Said immensely powerful magician sighed at her lovers' behavior but despite her words earlier didn't do anything, in fact she adjusted her position so that she ended up sitting on their laps. The ease of the action and her long suffering sigh was proof that this happened all the time for her, though the light blush she sported made it clear she wasn't exactly comfortable with that being the case.

 _Okay, I think I know why she finds the whole situation so embarrassing now._

"So Lady Sakura," Alkaid said, hoping to help the Sorceress Supreme along by getting down to business. "Your letter mentioned that a group of magicians from your community has gone rogue and has set out with the intent to do harm to Camp Half-Blood?"

Sakura jumped on the lifeline that the daughter of Hades offered as she nodded enthusiastically.

"Yes, that's right." She confirmed. "Specifically they are a cabal of magicians who have taken to the worship of Hecate and Circe, who acting on their matrons' new allegiances have decided to target your Camp."

"New allegiances?" Alkaid asked, confused. "Hecate is neutral. She's sworn on the Styx even."

"I wouldn't know." Sakura admitted with a shrug. "But Circe has most assuredly sided with Kronos and Hecate has not said anything to stop the cabal from following her lead."

Alkaid groaned at that. "That actually makes sense. They must see her staying neutral as tacit consent to proceed. Plus as the goddess of crossroads, Hecate would let them make that choice on their own."

"I defer to your greater understanding of the goddess."

"So where is this cabal holed up?" Pyrrha asked.

"They've set up a base in an abandoned village in Miyagi Prefecture," Syaoran informed them as Tomoyo leaned over to hand a piece of paper to Alkaid. "That's the village's coordinates."

"So why aren't these guys heading over to the States if they're going to fight for the Titans?" The redhead asked curiously.

"Ah, but you see they _don't need_ to travel to America to do you harm." Sakura said with a sad smile. "They intend to assist the Titans with long-range strategic support."

"What's that supposed to mean for magicians like you?" Pyrrha asked, clearly confused.

"What Lady Sakura is saying is that the renegades intend to use long-range WMD style strategic magic."

"That and provide the Titans with scrying and other supportive magic," Syaoran added.

"Oh, that's bad." Pyrrha said rather lamely as she processed the severity of the threat these rogues posed.

"Indeed," Alkaid said, standing and prompting the others to do the same. "Which is why we need to set out immediately."

"I understand," Sakura said with a nod. "But before you go, a word of warning. One of my overzealous disciples has already set out to destroy the cabal. Be careful when dealing with her but please don't hurt her too badly if you can help it."

"But not at the expense of your own safety," Tomoyo insisted. "Angel is dangerous."

Despite looking pained, neither Sakura nor Syaoran corrected the violet eyed woman.

 _Angel? Wasn't she that woman we met on that mission in London?_ Alkaid thought with annoyance as she recalled the German strumpet.

"We understand," Alkaid said with a nod. "We'll be setting off now."

"Godspeed," Sakura said, offering the two demigods a bow that her lovers imitated.

Bowing in return, the couple departed. It was time to get the job done.

* * *

 **Omake: Two Girls, One Baby (FFN version)**

After a magical ritual that involved much lovemaking and use of newly developed spells, Sakura looked down at her thoroughly satisfied mistress and smiled as she shared in her joy.

Tomoyo-chan's face was glowing, her smile more beautiful than anything. "I'm going to have Sakura-chan's baby. It's what I've always wanted next to you."

"And if we time it right, we'll even give birth together." Sakura said, offering her mistress a smile as she rubbed her own belly where Syaoran-kun's baby was growing and lay down next to her.

 _I'd have to cheat a little and put my baby in stasis for a few days but I'll manage. It's the least I can do for Tomoyo-chan._

Her own pregnancy had greatly accelerated her plans to get Tomoyo-chan pregnant, forcing her to use as complicated a process as they had instead of a more elegant magical solution the research for which had been progressing slower than expected.

 _But who cares about elegance. It worked and that's all that matters._

"Ne, Sakura-chan?"

"Yes, Tomo-chan?"

"You remember the Potters?"

"Yes," Sakura replied with a frown. "What about them?"

 _Why bring them up now?_

"Well, why don't you share this ritual with Alkaid-chan? I'm sure they'd appreciate it."

"Not sure it would be necessary," Sakura confessed. "As far as I know, Alkaid-chan is actually bisexual. So an old fashioned futanari spell would be enough."

"Ah, but what about Pyrrha-chan? She's a lesbian like me isn't she? I'll bet she'll prefer this way then to having a penis in her. I know I did."

"Hm, you have a point. Who would use it on who though?" She asked with a giggle.

Tomoyo-chan tapped her chin cutely in thought. "I dunno but let them sort it out. So you'll share the ritual?"

"I'll transcribe everything down and mail a copy to Alkaid-chan by the end of the week."

"Mm! That way our children can play together." Tomoyo-chan nodded eagerly, stars in her eyes. "They'll be so cute!"

"They would," Sakura agreed with a pleasant smile.

* * *

 **Done and done! Thanks to Nameless and Axios as always!**

 **Ah, Japan, where almost everything happens in Anime. It has been a long time since we visited Alkaid's true origins of magical girl-ness. Tis good to be home! And yes, Sakumoyo. OTP.**

 **Nameless: Hope you enjoy the Omake, it's the reason why this chapter is so short. We split it just to include it. As usual, the full version will be available on AO3 posted on our NamelessEngine handle. Beyond that, all I have to say is I hope you liked the foreshadowing we did for the next couple chapters. They should hopefully lead to a nice payoff for you guys. E4E, please take it away.**

 **You know what to do! Smash that review button and tell us what you love! No flames and peace off my peeps!**

 **SoA: Author Notes? What Author Notes?**


	25. Chapter 25

**Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson or Harry Potter.**

 **Consul of the Underworld: Grinding Phase**

 **Chapter Twenty Five: Audience with the Top**

 **Beta: ShadowofAxios**

* * *

"So what should we expect on the other side?" Pyrrha asked as she checked the supplies she'd stashed away inside Akoúo̱.

"Nothing at first," Alkaid said as she finished targeting her teleport with the help of a map of the area helpfully provided by one of Sakura's maids. "I've set it so we'll appear a good ways outside of the village. That should give us some leeway to sneak closer and get the lay of the land before we plan our next move."

"Sounds good," her wife said with a nod as she finished with her stock take. "We're all ready on my end too, so let's go."

Alkaid's reply was her own nod in return and the triggering of her spell.

That was when their troubles began as instead of the smooth, instantaneous transport across the significant distances involved that the sorceress expected, they were hit by what she could only describe as turbulence. It felt vaguely like the disorientating pull at the navel feeling of a Wizarding Portkey but far more intense.

The second problem however was that they didn't teleport into the forest surrounding the target village like she'd intended but instead to a traditional Japanese garden. One that looked like it came right out of the history books, even more so than Sakura's did.

"Oh! You're here at last!" A adorable looking tanned girl with lavender hair dressed in a sailor uniform announced cheerfully from a few feet in front of them. "Yondai-nee! The guests are here!"

An unsettling feeling came over Alkaid. It reminded her of the first time the couple had run into Mina.

"They are?" Another tanned lavender haired girl, this time sporting a summer dress, asked as she opened the sliding doors of the traditional Japanese manor behind the first girl. "They are! Dainana-chan go tell Okaa-san and Otou-san!"

"Hai~!" A voice identical to the first two girls replied as the sounds of someone scampering off carried to the demigods' ears. Though this was quickly drowned up by the sound of six excited girls swarming out of the house and surrounding them. Each identical to the other save for a tattoo on their foreheads of the Japanese numeral for one to six and their choice of attire.

The most frightening thing? Each of these girls gave off the feeling of overwhelming power. At least on par with her Father.

Wasn't that troubling all by itself?

 _Pyrrha, play along for now. They're very dangerous though not hostile._ Alkaid telepathically informed her wife.

 _Ya don't need to tell me that,_ Pyrrha shot back warily. _I can feel their power._

"Um, hello?" Alkaid offered neutrally. "Might I ask where we are? It seems we might've taken a wrong turn with our teleport."

"Nope," the girl with a one on her forehead said with a grin. "You're right where our Masters want you to be."

"What's that mean, exactly?" Pyrrha asked with an edge in her voice, that Alkaid knew was due to fearful nervousness.

"No need to worry," The girl with a tattoo of a three replied instead. "The Masters will explain it all to you."

"Yeah, they're very nice." The girl with a two on her forehead insisted with a nod. "They won't hurt you or anything."

"Yeah, like Nee-samas said." The girl labelled four said with a brillant grin. "So let's go see them now!"

Alkaid opened her mouth to say something. Maybe a protest or an attempt to fish for more information. Whatever it was, and she was so startled by everything that she wasn't entirely sure herself, she was cut off before she could even begin by the girls grabbing hold of both her and Pyrrha and pulling them into the house.

Pyrrha shot her a look but Alkaid shook her head. Better not resist and risk the ire of these insanely powerful girls or their as yet unseen superiors.

As such they allowed themselves to be roughly dragged and pushed along through the very old school halls of the mansion into a formal dining room. Unlike the rest of the mansion they'd been in so far it was a mix of the classical Japanese style and more Western tastes. The room's overall aesthetic was traditionally Japanese but its centerpiece was a long Western dining table.

At the head of which were two chairs occupied by two beings, a man and a woman, who must have been their hosts. The man was average looking, with tousled black hair, blue eyes. and was dressed in a casual a black shirt. The woman on the other hand was an exotic beauty with pink eyes and long knee length pink hair that was dressed in a modest striped dress.

The sheer collective power that the two radiated was more than the entirety of all of Olympus. By at least an order of magnitude! It was enough to send both demigods to their knees if they weren't somehow held up by an unseen force, which Alkaid suspected was the very same force exerting the immense pressure on them in the first place.

 _Who are these people!?_

"A question we'll answer in time," the man said with a smile. "But first introductions. My name is Amano Yukiteru and this is my wife, Yuno."

"We welcome you to our home," The woman smiled, picking off where her male counterpart left off. Said smile was almost eerie. "We rarely have guests, so it's a pleasure to meet you."

"It certainly is," the man said, still smiling his much more benign smile. "We've been waiting, Yuno especially, a long time to meet you two in particular."

"And why is that?" Alkaid said as she and Pyrrha were shoved into chairs across the length of the table from their intimidatingly powerful hosts.

"Oh, as overgods and overseers of this branch of the multiverse, we get so little chance to interact with mortals. Sometimes just meeting them is too much for their little squishy brains. And _pop_ ~! That's not even talking about how sometimes whole universes just go _boom~_!"

"It's such a shame really," the brunette said with a shake of his head. "Even when we suppress our power we can only descend to the mortal worlds very briefly without our power destabilizing reality."

"I mean no offense by saying this but I find your claims hard to believe." Alkaid said as politely as she could. "Your power suggests there might be some truth to it, but-"

"It's just a little crazy," Pyrrha added with a flabbergasted shake of her head.

Alkaid was honestly feeling much of the same. She was just hiding it better behind a forced smile. _Overgods!?_ Just the thought of there being such beings was terrifying to her, what more dealing with them in person?

If their guests' shock registered with the self-proclaimed overgods they didn't show it. Instead, they chose to continue as if the demigods hadn't even said anything.

"But you girls are special," Yuno said with a happy little clap of her hands. "As ambassadors between the gods, you are mortals that we can interact with without breaking the rules. Those same rules also protect you two from, you know, having your heads suddenly going _pop~_!"

The overgoddess seemed to really like that word. Not that Alkaid would mention that out loud nor would she comment on how said woman had gotten distracted and was now angrily muttering to herself.

"Stupid rules don't even let me go visit Japan!" The pink haired woman griped. "I want to go shopping in Ginza damnit!"

"There, there, Okaa-sama," the lavender hair girl with a seven on her head said as she and her sisters took their seats, having previously been preoccupied with a game of rock–paper–scissors to seemingly determine their seating order. "I'll go down next week. You can look through my eyes and pick out what you want."

"That's sweet, Dainana-chan," the pinkette said patting her daughter's head lovingly. "Thank you."

Ignoring his wife and daughter's byplay, Yukiteru spoke over them. "Few mortals are granted the honour that you two have. In fact, you're the first in centuries. We always look forward to meeting those such as you. Otherwise we'd get no visitors."

"Yeah," Yuno said with a sigh as she rejoined the main conversation. "The gods technically can visit, but they're too scared."

 _I wonder why?_ Alkaid asked, dreading the answer.

"Okaa-sama~! That's because of the time you killed the Atlantean god king for insulting your cooking." One of the overgods' daughters, her tattoo labelling her as number five, said sounding exasperated.

Yuna's face darkened and a wild glint entered her eyes as a series of endless concentric rings manifested within the orbs.

"Ah, yes. That one. Mm, just thinking back on it makes me want to destroy something." Her terrifyingly maddened eyes turned to her daughter, "Why did you remind me, sweetheart?"

The probably suicidal girl opened her mouth to say something but was stopped from getting herself killed when her sisters proceeded to dogpile her and harshly whisper to her to keep quiet.

The whole scene had Alkaid and Pyrrha paling in terror. Not only had this overgoddess just readily admitted to killing a king of the gods just for insulting her cooking! She'd also looked about ready to kill one of her own daughters for just bringing the matter up! Just how unstable was she!?

 _Why do I get the feeling that the gods did the smart thing to avoid visiting?_

If Yukiteru's amused smirk and nod was any indication, he agreed with her thought. Alkaid had little doubt he was reading her mind.

"Don't worry so much," Yukiteru reassured them. "You'll be fine. We won't hurt you."

Unsurprisingly, the half-bloods weren't reassured in the slightest.

"Oh! It's dinner time!" Yuno declared suddenly before turning to her daughters who were all still piled up on their recklessly brave sister. "Muru Murus stop playing, it's time to eat!"

"Hai~!" The identical girls replied dutifully before teleporting back into their seats, even as their mother clapped her hands and conjured a sumptuous spread of food for dinner.

"Tuck in everyone!" Yuno said cheerfully. "And maybe while we eat, Alkaid, Pyrrha, could you share with us what it's like for you in the mortal world?"

"That would be a nice topic for dinnertime conversation," Yukiteru said with a nod. "Good choice, saiai."

Against both sense and their own will, the married couple regaled the other family with _everything_ that was asked of them. From their earliest to most recent memories, the Potters found themselves pouring out every little detail they could muster for the overgods and their daughters. The process seemed to take forever but at the same time only a few minutes.

As they finally finished, they both collapsed into their chairs feeling utterly drained.

"Dig in, ladies." Yukiteru told them generously. "You deserved it."

Alkaid just nodded as she obeyed, too tired to worry about poison. Besides, if the overgods wanted them dead or whatever they hardly needed to resort to such trickery. Next to her Pyrrha followed her lead and cautiously began helping herself to the food.

Their hosts meanwhile just sat back in a eerie silence with thoughtful looks on their faces.

"We're reliving the lives you shared with us in our minds," one of the tanned girls, number two, said.

"Oh! You two like getting all naughty just like Okaa-sama and Otou-sama." The youngest of the lavender haired girls said with a giggle. "But you're less noisy."

"Urusai~!" Yuno said chidingly as she reached over and smacked the girl lightly on the head.

 _They're reliving_ that _too!?_ Alkaid recoiled. She was uncomfortable enough with their entire lives being reduced to someone's entertainment but this was a violation too far.

"It's not like that!" The sixth Muru Muru shouted defensively. "Otou-sama and Okaa-sama aren't watching that all for fun! They're using it to help them shape the foundations of a new world within our branch of the multiverse. It helps them guide the formation of a new universe from the formless void. So you're doing a great service."

 _That actually makes it a little less terrible._

"Is it really necessary though?" Alkaid questioned nonetheless. "I mean surely as such powerful gods, Lord Yukiteru and Lady Yuno can just scry on the mortal world and learn what they need that way."

"It isn't the same." Yuno said with a pleased sigh, obviously having enjoyed what she'd seen. "Without the person actually sharing their experience, it's different. Less rich, less impactful."

"And the more impactful the easier it is for us to use it as a basis for a new world." Yukiteru added. "It's the difference between building something from substandard and quality material."

"Exactly," Yuno said with a short round of applause. "My Yuki is so smart!"

The aforementioned overgod blushed at his wife's praise and nodded at the food.

"Enough talk for now," he said while fighting his lingering blush. "Let's finish dinner."

Warily, the demigoddess' complied. It was uncomfortable for the two as the family regaled each other with what they personally thought was the 'highlights' of the Potters' lives. Much to the two young women's embarrassment, much of these revolved around their relationship and even included some of their, ahem, nights in the bedroom.

Quietly, Alkaid finished her meal a few minutes after Pyrrha had. The redhead looked ready to bail the moment the brunette put her utensils down. As such, Alkaid was unsurprised that the moment she did, Pyrrha sent her a pleading look.

"I can see you're eager to leave," Yukiteru said, having caught the look. "So we won't hold you two much longer."

"Yeah, but before we say goodbye," Yuno continued for her husband. "We ask that you visit us again soon and share some new stories with us."

"In the meantime, we'll be watching your adventures." The second Muru Muru said with a thumbs up.

"And don't worry about the traps and whatnot outside that village you would have wasted this week clearing out." The fifth Muru Muru said with a cheeky grin. "Sakura-chan's crazy little apprentice handled them for you already."

"See we did you two a favour!" Muru Muru number seven said with a wink. "Instead of letting you handle all that mess we let you spend them with us. Ain't we nice?"

 _I honestly don't know whether this was really an improvement._

"Probably not," Yukiteru had the grace to acknowledge. "But at least we won't be delaying you unduly. Now, enough with the justifications. It's time to say goodbye."

With that he snapped his fingers and the next thing the demigods knew they were laying sprawled in a forest clearing overlooking their destination.

* * *

"Hey, you doing okay?" Pyrrha asked her wife as they pushed themselves back onto their feet.

"It's fine. _I'm_ fine. I promise." Alkaid replied. Even though Pyrrha could tell that on the inside she was still shaken from the visit with the overgods.

Hopefully Alkaid would open up more once she was done processing the incident.

Before they could discuss anything else, a shimmering mist appeared next to them and formed into a screen that displayed Chiron's face in the form of an I.M.

" _Alkaid, Pyrrha!"_ The immortal trainer of heroes cried out, sounding incredibly relieved. " _Thank the gods you're okay. We've been trying to reach you for a whole week. Where have you been?"_

 _A week! They weren't lying? We've been gone a whole week? No way!_ Pyrrha thought with a gasp. _Is Mina okay?_ _What the hell happened to Camp while we were gone?_

"We were forcefully invited to a meeting with the Amanos," Alkaid said tiredly, earning a look of wide eyed shock from the ancient centaur. Huh, she'd never seen Chiron so slack jawed. "I take it that you know who they are?"

" _Ah, yes. I-I do. It certainly explains where you've been."_

"Do they always invite guests without their permission?"

" _Usually."_ Chiron said, fidgeting uneasily. " _And now that you've caught their attention, I'm sorry to say that you're likely to be seeing more of them in the future. Be careful when you do."_

"We get it," Pyrrha said seriously, suppressing a shiver as her traitorous mind conjured up what could happen if they didn't follow that advice. "So, um, what's been going on while we were away?"

" _Well, first and foremost, Percy led a team to attack the Princess Andromeda-"_

"Weren't we still planning that?"

" _Yes, we were."_ Chiron said, sounding almost angry. " _The Counselors however decided not to wait for you and launched the attack with only a minimum of planning."_

"Please tell me that it was at least successful," Alkaid said with a irritated sigh.

" _Yes. Sadly at the loss of Charles Beckendorf. Overall it was a success. However, Percy returned after meeting with Lord Poseidon bringing news that Oceanus has began an invasion of Atlantis."_

"Shit! Silena's going to be heartbroken." Pyrrha noted with a worried frown. 'Kaidy's face was blank as she nodded slightly.

" _She is,"_ Chiron informed them grimly. " _Though- No, I won't say it here. You never know who's listening. But know this, Alkaid, when you get back I think we should look into Silena. She's behaving oddly."_

"Cut her some slack," Pyrrha said in defense of her friend. "She just lost her boyfriend."

"Fiance actually," Alkaid said, shocking Pyrrha. "They came to ask Mr. D for permission to get married in Camp Half-Blood after the war. They didn't tell anyone though. Didn't want to distract from the war."

So it was a typical whirlwind demigod romance. Not too uncommon.

"That just makes it more-"

" _Pyrrha,"_ Chiron cut in sternly. " _I knew their true relationship too and I'm saying she's acting strangely. Do you understand?"_

Pyrrha just nodded.

"You've left some other important things out as well," Alkaid reasoned. "Are our communications _that_ insecure?"

" _Unfortunately, yes they are."_ Chiron acknowledged with a frustrated whip of his tail. " _I'll fill you in when you get back. In the meantime, focus on your mission."_

"Before that, can you update us on Mina?" Pyrrha cut in before the centaur could end the call.

" _Your daughter is fine,"_ her mentor reassured her. " _Her babysitter, Baba Yaga, sent a note to Camp. And I must say, I'm shocked you managed to convince that borderline monster to play babysitter."_

"Baba isn't that bad nowadays," Alkaid waved the comment away. "What did the note say?"

" _She wanted us to let you know that she'll watch your daughter till you get back but that she'll expect something in return for the overtime."_

The married couple visibly relaxed at the news and Pyrrha privately swore to get Baba the best sake money could buy as a souvenir for all the trouble their little girl inevitably caused her.

Before they could discuss anything else, the wards surrounding the village shuddered in the air.

Green eyes met reddish-brown and the two women nodded. "Chiron, we're gonna cut this short. The job calls."

" _Right. Good luck you two. Please return safely."_

* * *

 **Omake: Tea at the Amanos**

Some time after the Potters departed the Amanos' residence, the couple found themselves entertaining new guests. Occupying the seats the demigods had previous taken were a pair of strange beings. One was a shapeshifting man that looked like Robert Downey Jr. one moment while in the next was a ancient looking man with a incredibly long hair and an equally impressive beard before once more into a woman with teal hair dressed in long-sleeved orange dress with white pearls and black boots before shifting once more. Next to this constantly changing being was a pudgy but otherwise featureless man that looked like little more than a white cutout superimposed on the environment around him.

"I have to ask you two. Why do you just do whatever you want?" Yuno asked, her eyes narrowed in annoyance. "All you do is ape stuff from whatever media you're into at the time or try to be meta."

"We're hardly _that_ bad at our work," the featureless being said defensively, crossing his arms and giving the impression that he was glaring right back.

"I agree." The shapeshifter, now looking like Bob the Builder, stated. "Sure, we get a bit nuts at times, but we honestly try and tie things together. Nine times out of ten it works. Swearies."

"Swearies? Really?" Yuki said with a shake of his head. "Are you ten?"

"I'm a very active man-child." His form changed into a woman. "A very active woman-child."

"Don't judge us," the featureless man warned. "Remember that at best we're equals and only because of your station as the custodians of _our_ creations. We are the ones who hold the power here."

"It's a hobby." The shapeshifter added, now a blonde woman with her hair pulled back into a severe bun at the back of her head and a cybernetic implant surrounding her left eye, muttered. "We can take it as seriously as we want."

The faceless man jabbed him in the side. "And we do take it seriously, even if we do occasionally indulge in just having fun."

"What Nameless said!" The shapeshifter, now a attractive young woman with long, light blonde hair, blue eyes and a petite, girlish figure. "Dammit this filter needs to be adjusted again. I'm stuck on the boob spectrum."

"That's just one of your typical excuses, E4E." Nameless said with a chuckle. "You just like genderbending."

"Nah," E4E said with a shake of his head, having transformed into a eccentric looking old man with stereotypical mad scientist hair. "I'm more of a slice of life kinda guy. Hmm… We should really do more of that."

The featureless man looked as though he was struck.

"Wow, right in your heart. Am I write?"

"Stop it," Yuki demanded sternly. "No more sidetracking, no more puns. Let's get serious!"

"Yes," Yuno said, giving the two odd beings her infamous murderous glare. "Why do you make the people of our subject universes dance to your whims? It's wrong to take away their free will like that!"

"I wouldn't go so far," Nameless said as he sweat literal bullets at being subjected to the dreaded yandere glare. "We _do_ make them behave in-character. All we do is shape things so they choose the paths we like to see most."

The glare intensified.

"Uh, most of the time?" Nameless confessed, pulling at a non-existent collar.

Patting the white entity on the shoulder, E4E said, "Tough break buddy. That stare is almost as bad as Ghost Rider's Penance Stare."

"I know right, MacGyver." Nameless said with a sigh. "Nice choice of body though. Very 80s."

"Respect the mullet."

"Don't get distracted on us again!" Yuki insisted slapping the table hard.

"I'm a very distracted person. You can ask anybody." E4E wagged a finger.

"I can attest to that," Nameless said cheekily, earning himself a knife to the head from the annoyed lady of the house.

"Ouch that hurt! Not! But dammit Yuno was that necessary?" The white being said as he plucked the knife out of his head and stabbed it into the dining table.

"If it gets you to stop bantering with each other like we're not here then yes." The pinkette insisted, casually rolling another knife through her fingers.

"Okay, okay, we'll stop." E4E said diplomatically and a thick Scottish accent while holding his hands up in the universal gesture for peace. Fitting considering his Starfleet uniform. The whole organisation was full of peaceniks.

"Fine but for this insult, we're demanding ten universes from Nameless. You _owe_ us now, you damned miser." Yuki declared with a scowl.

"I'll try," Nameless replied with a shrug. "I'm kinda too busy to just sit around making universes for you two. But I'll try. I _do_ enjoy the task after all."

"And you better deliver." Yuno said with her yandere glare turned up to eleven. "Or else."

"...This is a weird-roused moment, isn't it?"

The Amanos clearly did not appreciate E4E's joke as they both stood and drew weapons. Yuno manifested her trusty katana while Yuki pulled out a revolver from his pants pocket.

"Protect me Nameless." E4E said, holding up the faceless man as a shield. That he'd transformed into a little girl with long black hair and adorable facial tattoos just made the whole thing all the more disturbing.

"Why don't we get out of dodge instead?" Nameless suggested irritably as he tried to push his friend off. "And dude I don't want to get falsely #MeToo'd, so let go damnit!"

"Oh right, we're omnipotent. Sweet! Adios!" E4E said with a chuckle as he teleported away.

"Yeah, bye." Nameless said as he too vanished.

"I hate those two," Yuki admitted as he put away his gun. "They are so annoying."

Yuno just nodded in agreement. "Want to go work off the stress, anata?"

"What do you have in mind?" Yuki asked, perking up at the suggestion.

"Well~, we do have the raw materials to make a new universe on our own don't we?" Yuno suggested leaning into her husband. "Why don't we go make use of that, you know, in the old fashioned way?"

"The Muru Murus could use a new sister," Yuki replied with a lecherous little grin.

A grin that would lead to much debauchery.

* * *

 **Done and done! Thanks to the team of Nameless and Axios as always!**

 **Wow, just wow. This is why we stay in the ANs, Omakes are dangerous!**

 **Nameless: Though it's fun to branch out something. [chuckles] Anyways, hope you like our choice of overgods. Before anyone asks/objects/etc., we picked them for their sheer instability and because their canon ends with them essentially becoming what we had in mind for overgods anyways. So it was fitting.**

 **Freaking psychopaths and their universe crushing power.**

 **Nameless: Ah, but what better to embody the randomness and potential destructiveness inherent in the universe than insane psychos?**

 **Touche! Now onto the rest of the chapter… that was it. Huh, super short but then again it was Overgods. So you know, there was THAT.**

 **Nameless: Well, we kinda did split the chapter so we could have both omakes after being inspired to write last week's one while writing out the chapter. So for our smut loving readers, having two shorter chapters is the price you paid for it. Hope it's worth it to you. I know it was to me. [cheeky grin]**

 **You know what to do! Smash the review button and tell us what you love! No flames and peace off my peeps!**


	26. Chapter 26

**Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson or Harry Potter.**

 **Consul of the Underworld: Grinding Phase**

 **Chapter Twenty Six: Bosses and Cooldowns**

 **Beta: ShadowofAxios**

* * *

Rushing out of the woods that surrounded the village, the couple ran through the visible wards like they weren't even there.

"Is it supposed to be so easy?" Pyrrha asked skeptically.

"No," Alkaid informed her grimly. "Someone brought the wards against intrusion down. That was probably what we saw just now."

"You sure it wasn't just whatever is causing all this magic to linger in the air?" Pyrrha asked. "This place is literally overflowing with magic."

"I think that's because of what's going on over there." Alkaid replied gesturing to where the streets were swarming with empousai and monstrously large animals who were battling a bunch of winged figures on the far side of town, all whilst the vampiric monsters loudly complained about the 'pesky magician'.

"True," Pyrrha conceded as they ran towards the heart of the village. "It's a good distraction too."

"I won't look a gift horse in the mouth," Alkaid replied as they neared the middle of town. "They're working out of the village's community centre. It's where the magic is thickest."

"Guards!" Pyrrha shouted as a squad of empousai standing watch in front of the building spotted them and began advancing towards them.

"I see them," Alkaid acknowledged even as she easily took them out with a simple **Axel Shooter.**

"This is too easy," Pyrrha growled warily as they began closing the remaining distance to the community centre. "Whoever is attacking now is doing us a big favour."

"Don't jinx us," Alkaid warned almost prophetically as moments later in a swirl of Mist a new figure appeared directly ahead of them and blocked their path.

"It's too late for that, I'm afraid." The beautiful woman with long dark hair braided with threads of gold and piercing green eyes said with a taunting smile. She was wearing a dress was black as night and that covered in twinkling stars.

 _With that get up… There can only be one person this is._

"You're going to fight us Circe?" Alkaid asked as confidently as she could manage when faced with a goddess. "Isn't that against the rules?"

"Considering your status, daughter of Hades? It's a gray area. One I'm all too happy to exploit." The minor goddess of magic and self-proclaimed inventress of spells declared with a bloodthirsty grin.

With a snap of her fingers, billows of Mist escaped the bottom of her dress and quickly filled their surroundings. With nary a thought, the bank consolidated into a mob of animal men, dressed as a phalanx of hoplites.

"Kill them!" The goddess ordered her conjured minions, sending them charging towards the demigods in a disorganised mob.

 _Apparently whatever discipline these men, if they were men and aren't just pure conjurations, had before has been lost in their transformation._ Alkaid thought as she assessed the situation.

"We need to get close," Alkaid informed Pyrrha as she fired off a **Axel Shooter, Phalanx Shift** to thin the beastial ranks. "I won't be able to beat her in a magical duel."

"Clear the way and I'll handle the bitch," Pyrrha promised as she cut the head off a charging panther man.

"Working on it," Alkaid replied as she gathered her magic for a spell even as she used shadowbolts to fend off any animal men that got too close. " **Επικαλούνται: βροχή φωτός** (Invoke: Rain of Light) **!** "

A collection of magical circles appeared behind Alkaid which each fired out a powerful beam of energy that scythed through the mass of Circe's twisted minions. They fell by the dozen but still numbered in the hundreds and the daughter of Hades decided she needed a little more firepower.

" **Firestorm!"**

At her command, a pair of fire tornadoes roared to life at the heart of the enemy horde and joined her beams in reaping a deadly toll in the enemy's lives.

"Oh! Pretty good. For an amateur," Circe critiqued Alkaid's spellwork cooly. "Why don't I show you how it's done."

At that the goddess causally waved her hand and caused a cloud of Mist to surround her warriors where it clung to them like a protective cloak. One which proved more than capable of deflecting or outright tanking Alkaid's magic.

"Cheating off the bat? Do I scare you so much Circe?" Alkaid taunted, trying to goad the goddess.

"Cheating? Really, is that the best you have to say?" Circe said with a sad shake of her head even as she used the Mist to conjure a dozen rockets and sent them flying towards the demigods. "This isn't one of your silly little video games, _girl_. This is a real battle and as they say, 'all's fair in love and war'."

"I agree." Alkaid gritted her teeth as the ground rumbled and chunks of rock shot off into the sky, intercepting the missiles and causing them to prematurely explode.

The shattered remains of the missiles fell towards the ground but while still in the air they shifted back into Mist from whence they came, only to reform into a hail of arrows.

Cursing inwardly, Alkaid called on the shadows in the area, they rose with frightening speed, coiling around her and Pyrrha in a protective slithering wall as they halted the arrows from striking them. The rain of projectiles thus doing little more than take out a whole chunk of Circe's own Mist constructs.

 _Pits be damned! Talk about reduce, reuse, recycle. The bint is taking that to new heights._ Alkaid cursed as the dissipating corpses of her Mist warriors reforged themselves into rows upon rows of serrated spikes that attempted to impale the two demigoddesses.

Alkaid felt the spikes strike harmlessly against her shadowy barrier but _somehow_ Circe had laced them with some kind of magical component that nevertheless shredded several layers of her defensive wards.

Gritting her teeth, the young sorceress conjured a magical platform below her to avoid anymore ground attacks, all the while panting from the battle's frenetic pace. It had been a while since she fought a god, something she never enjoyed.

Taking the breather for the chance it was, Alkaid glanced over the battlefield at Pyrrha who was closing in on Circe. Her wards hadn't fared quite as well as Alkaid's own and she'd ended up with a nasty wound on her hip but she was already using the brief reprieve Circe gave them after unleashing her attack to down a healing potion.

Not that it was much of a break as moments later Circe renewed her attack, this time conjuring a trio of cannons and pointing them directly at Alkaid.

"I heard you half-bloods used these to great effect in defense of your pathetic little Camp, did you not?" Circe said with a sick little smile as a multicolored glow built up in the mouths of the cannons. "Why don't I let you have a taste of that? Return to sender as it were."

With her awful joke made, the goddess snapped her fingers and the cannons fired, unleashing three streams of raw magic at Alkaid.

" **Mirror Alice!** " Alkaid cast, sending the beams hurtling back at Circe. "Now _that's_ returning to sender."

"Quite," Circe said with a frown even as she dismissed the cannons and the deathrays they fired with another snap of her fingers.

"And as for what you said earlier?" Alkaid said with a grin as she noticed that Pyrrha had gotten into striking distance. "Yeah, this isn't a video game. You should have kept an eye on the the fighter!"

Circe just shook her her head, "Did you think I would forget something _that_ elementary?"

At her words, the Mist next to her solidified into a warrior that easily parried the blow Pyrrha had intended for the goddess. Said figure wore authentic looking Ancient Greek armor and worse looked like a dead ringer for the legendary Odysseus.

 _Oh shit! If that simulacrum has even a tenth of the original's skill than we're screwed._

"I see you recognize who my little puppet is based on." Circe said with a smirk. "And just to assuage some of the fear you might be feeling, it sadly only has half the skill of the original. Unfortunately for you, that's more than enough to deal with the brute you call your wife."

"Pyrrha, that's-"

"Odysseus, I know." Pyrrha shouted back as she barely avoided a slash from the Mist construct. "Met him once in the Underworld."

Alkaid's distraction cost her though as Circe exploited it to launch a massive fireball at her.

The building heat tipped her off and reacting just in the nick of time, the sorceress countered with a **Frost Bolt** that neutralized the opposing spell and shrouded the area in steam, adding to the already present Mist and making it even harder to see anything.

 _That might have been a miscalculation._ Alkaid cursed as she was forced to duck under the talons of a harpy that had just appeared out of the fog.

" **Frost Nova!** " Alkaid cast, clearing out her immediate vicinity of threats and giving herself more room to work.

Her opponent wasn't feeling generous enough to give her respite though and conjured up a firestorm around her.

" **Oval Protection**!" Alkaid cast just in time to save herself from being incinerated but not enough to avoid getting singed. "I really hope Pyrrha is having a better time of this, because I'm getting owned."

 _Now wasn't that a foreign feeling? Usually I'm the one having an easier time in a fight._

* * *

Even as Alkaid was being hard pressed by Circe's superior magic, Pyrrha found herself in a tough spot as well as she caught the Mist version of Odysseus in a weapons lock, her labrys struggling against the construct's xiphos

 _Sweet fucking hell, why this sneaky fucker?_ Pyrrha thought furiously as she struggled to use her weapon's superior weight and her own enhanced strength to overpower the bastardized Mist puppet.

Unfortunately, just when it seemed like she would succeed it skillfully disengaged. Instead of breaking its guard like the redhead had hoped, all that resulted was her own guard being left wide open.

Exploiting this weakness, the construct thrust at her, hoping to score a hit before she could recover but Pyrrha was better than that and moving with agility that her muscular build often deceived her opponents into thinking she lacked, she managed to dance out of the way just in time.

"You're a good approximation," Pyrrha noted as the two circled each other warily. "But still nowhere near the real Odysseus' level. I held my own against him when we sparred, I can take down a poor copy like _you_."

If the facsimile could feel offended it didn't show it, instead just launching into an flurry of attacks like a damn hurricane. This time trying to overwhelm Pyrrha through the sheer speed of its attacks.

It swung its blade so quickly that it rivaled Percy and Luke at their best. The daughter of war however had sparred against both and was thus perfectly capable of keeping the faux Odysseus at bay.

Parrying with a grunt, the daughter of war felt her muscles strain from the action. Unfortunately, like when dealing with Percy and Luke when they got into the swing of things with a sword, she was unable to do more than fend him off.

 _Ugh, I might say I can beat it but I'm honestly not sure I can._ Pyrrha privately admitted to herself as the simulacrum backed off at last. _Not unless I try something different. Maybe that? It's unpolished, but what do I have to lose?_

"You should be honored," Pyrrha said as she began channeling her magic through her labrys. It wasn't as receptive as her wand and it had taken months of practice to get even as good as she was, which wasn't very, but it would be good enough. "I've never tried this on an actual opponent."

Her words seemed to cause the simulacrum to tense and tighten its guard. Not that it would help it. Not against this.

"Eat this! **Surge, Water and Heaven!** " Pyrrha incanted as she swung her labrys down in a powerful slash. " **Tidal Slash!** "

As she finished the incantation for her spell, her magic combined with that of the gem of water element magic that she had socketed into her weapon, and together conjured a tidal wave to come crashing down on the construct. Unlike a typical tidal wave though this was only as thick as the width of her labrys' blade but lost none of its fury for its small size and easily cut the faux Odysseus cleanly in two.

"Heh, eat your heart out, Jackson."

"Ichor!? My ichor?" A terrified scream from further into the mist told Pyrrha that the simulacrum wasn't the only thing she'd managed to cut with her spell. "No, no, this can't be happening!"

 _Note to self, respect magic water._ Pyrrha thought and received a feeling of agreement from the gem of water magic in return.

"I have to get out of here!" The goddess screamed in a panic. "Oh by the Pit, what if this scars!?"

With that the goddess, who through the fading mist had clearly only received a light cut along her arm, teleported away while howling like she'd lost a limb.

"Wow, I didn't know she was that much of a, uh…" Pyrrha made a wave motion to a disheveled and sweat covered Alkaid. She also looked like she got a deep tan. It actually looked good on her.

 _Gotta convince her to give the look a try sometime._

"Coward, yes." Alkaid replied, oblivious to Pyrrha's thoughts. "Circe was always more a manipulator then a fighter. Now if it were Hecate, we'd be dead and sipping tea with Father."

"I'd have thought your dad would've showed up if she picked a fight. God vs. god and all that." Pyrrha admitted as they made their way further into the village unimpeded. "I mean I get not stepping in for Circe if she's got such a big weakness, but if we were in real danger with no chance then I'm pretty sure someone would step in to help."

"Mayhaps Lady Persephone. Lady Hecate and her are close, so she would give her a tongue lashing. She's learned well from Lady Demeter." Alkaid shrugged, shifting uncomfortably and scratching her tanned skin.

"You're probably right," Pyrrha agreed. "So you ready for this?"

Alkaid nodded. "Let's do this."

* * *

Acting as the well oiled team that they were, the couple stormed into the main hall of the community centre in a whirlwind of magical bullets and deadly swings of a Celestial Bronze labrys. Not that the bunch of magicians standing around a 3D image of Camp Half-Blood at the hall's centre even seemed to notice.

They didn't even seem to flinch as they died. Even as Alkaid and Pyrrha started to cut them down they just kept chanting.

It wasn't until they were down to the last man, an elderly man, that they got a response.

"Too late, you foolish children. T-The speelll is completeee…" With that, he sagged against the wall.

"'Kaidy, please tell me he's lying." Pyrrha said with a fearful undertone.

Alkaid ignored her wife for a moment and spun around to look with horrified eyes at the projection, which showed a massive storm of dark magic was coalescing and building in power in the skies above Camp.

"Can the wards stop that?"

"I don't think so," Alkaid replied as she tried working on a counterspell, causing bands of green lightning to streak through the cloud seemingly trying to box it in. It wasn't working though and all it was managing to do was drain her reserves.

Cutting the spell, she stepped back to reassess the situation and think up another approach.

Of course, this was exactly the moment when the Fates decided it was time to make her life more difficult. In a loud explosion, a section of the wall on the far side of the hall shattered inward and in walked Sakura's wayward disciple, Angel.

"What is this?" The redheaded German girl asked as she surveyed the slaughtered remains of the Titanic followers. "Why are all my prey dead?"

"'Cos we killed them," Pyrrha said warily as she stepped between Alkaid and the new arrival. "They wer-"

"My prey!" The other girl dressed in a white dress with a provocatively low neckline and high skirt alongside a host of angel wing shaped accoutrements, which incidentally made her look like some kinda slutty angel, hissed angrily. "How dare you steal my kills?"

Alkaid found the other magician to be far too annoying to deal with and ignored her, continuing her work. Not that she was making any progress. Biting her lip, she had to admit that whatever the spell the Titan cultists had used wasn't going to be easily dispelled.

"You two will pay for stealing my chance to impress Sakura-sama!" The crazy redhead shouted angrily as she conjured a large magic circle from which floated out a squad of puppets that were each a metre tall, hovered just off the ground and fell into three distinct types.

At the front were a dozen angelic looking puppets with with a torso of a female humanoid that ended in a sharp triangular point instead of legs, gigantic wings for arms that were stuck in a pose that had them stretched forward, and a small halo over its eyeless head. These were supported by another six similarly angelic looking dolls with a torso of a female humanoid, a fish like tail, wings for arms, a arrow shaped head, and a large halo that hovered over its head. All of which were led by one of their number that was mostly humanoid in shape, with wing-like thrusters protruding from its spine, and a bird-like head capped by a halo.

"Allegrettos, attack the kill stealers! Vivances, provide them with support fire! Obbligato, buff your troops!" The German girl shouted, sounding unhinged.

"Is she seriously giving orders to puppets?" Pyrrha asked, as she smashed one of the most numerous puppets, an Allegretto apparently, into kindling with a swing of her labrys.

"If she bothered to bind some kind of spirit to them or program some kind of intelligence then it's not exactly as stupid as it sounds," Alkaid replied with a shrug as she blasted another of the Allegrettos with a shadowbolt while summoning a **Oval Protection** to shield them from the beams of holy energy that the Vivances were literally singing into existence at them.

"How are these things even supposed to attack us?" Pyrrha asked curiously as she gestured at a Allegretto. "They don't even have hands!"

As if to answer her question, the Obbligato raised its hands as if in supplication and a familiar aura surrounded the remaining Allegrettos signaling that they were under the influence of the **Haste** spell. Using this buff to full effect they proceeded to blitz around Alkaid's barrier, all whilst firing rapid bursts of holy energy from their halos.

"Did you need to jinx us again?" Alkaid told her wife dryly, as she tried and failed to line up a shot at one of the fast moving puppets.

"Sorry!" Pyrrha said as she released a gout of red hot flames at another that was coming in for a strafing run.

" **Debuff: Patience!** " The crazy sorceress shouted.

"What's that supposed to do?" Alkaid wondered aloud, even as the answer presented itself.

"Ugh! This is getting us nowhere!" Pyrrha growled irritably. "I'm going out there."

With a fierce roar, the daughter of Ares raised her labrys above her head and charged out of the safety of Alkaid's **Oval Protection** and smashed a Allegretto to pieces. With a raging snarl that made her look like a berserker, the warrior made a beeline for the puppet's summoner with a angry warcry.

"Take out that commander puppet first," Alkaid shouted at her bespelled lover even as she puzzled over how to dispel whatever was affecting her. It felt like no magic she'd ever encountered and she was loathe to risk using something that not only might not work but could possibly even backfire.

"Got it," Pyrrha shouted even as she weaved her way through the fire of a pair of Allegrettos trying to flank her from both sides and causing the fast moving puppets to shoot each other up instead.

A couple of the Vivances moved to target Pyrrha but Alkaid moved quickly to neutralise the whole lot of them with a **Axel Shooter, Phalanx Shift**. That this also took out all but a couple of the pesky Allegrettos was just a bonus.

The Obbligato evaded most of the barrage with exceptional maneuverability, like something out of an anime and as a result they earned only a few glancing hits that left scorch marks. Done with its evasion, it raised its hands apparently in preparation to cast some kind of spell.

" **Ray of Hea-** " Angel incanted, but was interrupted when the Obbligato puppet she was channeling her spell through was cut in half by Pyrrha literally throwing her labrys at it.

"What!? That isn't a throwing axe? How did you manage that?" The German woman shouted, flabbergasted.

"I'm a daughter of Ares! _Weapons do what I want_!" Pyrrha declared as she spun around to sweep Miló's flamethrower over the two remaining puppets that were trying to rush her from the rear.

The display seemed to unnerve Angel and she took a step back in shock even as Pyrrha walked towards her, picking up her labrys on the way.

Angel seemingly distracted by Pyrrha's advance, Alkaid took her chance to launch her own attack on the opposing sorceress. Mindful that the other woman wasn't quite an enemy, she pulled her punches. But not by much.

" **Silence,** " Alkaid hissed under her breath depriving Angel of her most powerful weapon, her magic.

Not that it seemed to work.

" **Debuff: Diligence!** " The angel obsessed redhead cast unhindered as she began backing away from Pyrrha.

Alkaid felt some kind of power being invoked, one which _somehow_ wasn't affected by her **Silence** spell which was still in place. Fortunately, it didn't really work well on Pyrrha.

"You should give it up," the daughter of war informed her fellow redhead. "I'm a child of Ares. When it comes to beating an enemy, we're super determined. No amount of your mind magic is going to stop me."

"Mind magic? My powers are nothing so plebeian." Angel countered, seemingly offended. "They are my inheritance as a Nephilim."

" _You_ are a half-angel?" Alkaid couldn't stop herself from snorting derisively. "I'll see it before I believe it."

"You dare doubt my parentage, you pagan scum!?" Angel shouted angrily, all thoughts of retreating from Pyrrha lost. "I'll show you that your vaunted parentage holds nothing in comparison to my own!"

"Bring it!" Pyrrha hissed as she got within close combat range.

* * *

 _I really shouldn't say anything in a fight. I keep jinxing us._ Pyrrha thought as she reeled from Angel's reply, a powerful punch that sent her stumbling back.

Before she could recover, Angel lashed out once more and struck the arm that was clutching onto her labrys. The blow was so hard that despite her best efforts, the weapon slipped reflexively from Pyrrha's grasp and clattered to the floor.

"Son of a-!" Pyrrha snarled as she ducked under a fierce punch from Angel and countered with a jab to her stomach.

The German took the hit but its force was all but nullified by the glowing plate armor that had suddenly manifested over her body. Pyrrha, even with the buffs that her wife cast on her before any fight, felt her fingers break at the impact

 _What the hell_? Before the daughter of Ares could ponder the matter any more, Angel lashed out with a kick and sent her flying. _How the hell is she this tough? She fights like a rookie, her form is crap, but holy shit if she packs a punch!_

"Pyrrha! Get down!" Alkaid shouted, as she cast one of her bigger spells at the armored form of their opponent. " **Divine Buster!** "

The green beam slammed into the girl who was seemingly consumed by its emerald fury and Pyrrha worried her wife had killed her. A moment later she almost wished she had.

Bursting out of the path of the beam and into the air above on a pair of brilliantly glowing white avian wings was their pesky opponent, who with the halo hovering over her helmeted head looked every bit the child of an angel that she claimed to be.

"Oh shit," Pyrrha whispered to herself as she felt a cold sweat roll down her neck. "This is gonna suck, isn't it?"

" **Sacred Sweep!** " Angel cast, conjuring a pair of beams of holy power to the left and right of her that rapidly swept the area in front of her.

"Jump over them! Don't let them hit you!" Alkaid warned. "They're too powerful for your buffs."

Taking the warning to heart, Pyrrha called on her inner gymnast and leapt over the beam heading towards her. This put her in the air for only a few seconds, but that was enough for Angel to practically teleport over and punch her square in the face.

 _I think she broke my nose!_ The daughter of Ares thought through the pain as she was once more sent flying, even as anger began pumping through her veins at the bitch who had did it!

* * *

 _This is bad!_ Alkiad thought as she realized that just maybe Angel wasn't just boasting when she said she was a Nephilim.

Turning from where she'd sent Pyrrha flying once again, Angel leveled a frightfully powerful glare at the daughter of Hades.

" **Buff: Pride!** "

 _Gotcha!_ Alkaid thought even as the beginnings of Angel's ability, she couldn't exactly call it a spell since it defied her **Silence** spell, began to take hold. _Eat this!_

" **Incantare: Reddite quae sunt Caesaris Caesari et quae sun!** (Incant: Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's)"

Most spells might not have worked against Angel's apparently authentic angelic powers, but _this_ would. It was after all based on a principle that was found in the Bible itself after all.

Under the influence of her own reflected power, at least Alkaid hoped so, Angel suddenly conjured a flaming sword to add to her astral armor and flew towards her in a charge.

One that was countered when Pyrrha, having retrieved her labrys, literally leapt onto the other redhead and began hacking away at her back with her weapon. Angel's armor held and with a barrel roll, easily dislodged the daughter of Ares. Unfortunately, Pyrrha had aced her landing and was on her _before_ the supposed Nephilim could recover herself.

Angel tried to fend her off with her sword, but it was obvious even to Alkaid's relatively untrained eyes that the other sorceress was a total novice at swordplay and within a few moves Pyrrha had disarmed her.

" **Smi-** " Angel tried to cast, but Alkaid was quicker on the draw.

" **Astral Break!** " The daughter of Hades incanted, causing her opponent's astral armor to shatter in an explosion of blue light that left both Angel and Pyrrha otherwise unscathed.

Without any prompting, Pyrrha slammed the butt of her labrys carefully into the back of Angel's head, knocking her out.

She stayed down this time too, lying unconscious before them in a heap.

Pyrrha looked like she wanted to kick the German a few times, but Alkaid touched her shoulder. "Let's not kick her while she's down."

"I _really_ want to." Pyrrha clicked her tongue.

"I know," Alkaid said even as used **Incantare: Tiber Benedictiones** (Incant: Tiber's blessings) to fix what damage they'd all received, even Angel, as best she could. "But we need to be the better person here. Diplomacy demands it."

Pyrrha growled in frustration but nodded.

 _I've fixed what I could but we'll need to have someone do a better job after this is all over._ Alkaid mused as she finished healing what injuries she could.

She couldn't have her wife looking like a brute after all. Her nose was too cute for that!

"Now to deal with the other problem." Alkaid declared as she turned her attention to the storm.

It was wreaking havoc over Camp. It looked liked a good chunk of the fortifications they'd built preceding the Battle of Zeus' Fist was on fire due to lightning strikes. Even the Big House had taken a hit, though thankfully it wasn't burning down just sporting a decent sized scorched mark around a missing section of the porch.

 _Oh, Mr. D is not going to be pleased at all._ _Baba's probably going to cackle like a maniac when she hears about it though._

"Where to start?" Alkaid asked, genuinely stumped as she tried to make sense of whatever magic the Titans' pet magicians had used to conjure the storm.

"Maybe by telling me what's taking you two whippersnappers so long?" Baba Yaga's familiar voice asked irritably as she appeared out of nowhere to glare at the Potters from across the projection of Camp.

"What are you doing here?" Pyrrha asked, shocked by the ancient Folk Hero's appearance.

"You two have gone for a _week_. A whole gods be damned week!" Baba shouted, her annoyance clear. "And I've been watching your little murderous munchkin the whole time! Now where the hells have you been?"

"We're dealing with a problem. Mina knows to behave, mostly."

"Have you met your daughter?" Baba retorted with a roll of her eyes. "Behave? Bah humbug!"

"Uh, if you want us to get home soon," Pyrrha said cautiously, wary of upsetting the dangerous witch. "Mind helping us with this?"

The borderline monster looked at the display Pyrrha was gesturing to and frowned. "That's impressive magic. Crude but impressive, at least in terms of the power behind it. Strategic magic?"

"Yes," Alkaid confirmed. "They cast it even as we killed them."

"Fanatics probably poured their very lives into it too," Baba said with a nod. "Using their death curses for this? A bunch of imbeciles."

"Can you shut it down?" Alkaid asked as a lightning bolt came dangerously close to hitting Camp's magazine.

"For a price, girly. I'm not a charity case."

"Name it," Alkaid replied confidently. While she had not much love for Camp herself, her siblings and a number of her close friends like Percy were there. She'd pay almost any price to save them.

"I want you to learn something for me," Baba said with a greedy grin, showing her crooked teeth. "I want you to prove you haven't been slacking off in your magical studies."

"What do you have in mind?" Alkaid asked warily. The last time she'd listened to Baba's advice and mixed curses into her spells, she found it a waste of time as her usual opponents just weren't affected by them.

"It's sort of a deadly curse, but could also be counted as a attack spell. So maybe a hybrid. Yeah, I guess it would count as that."

"What spell, Baba?"

"Nothing much, just the **Prison Depths of Lake Cocytus**."

"Lake Cocytus? I take it you're not talking about the river back home."

"Nope," Baba confirmed with a low cackle. "The lake is a lot scarier than your little stream. Trust me, I've been to both. And boy! The lake makes this old woman need a jacket or five. And the Lightbringer is _not_ happy being stuck there. At all. He's liable to kill anyone who shows up to see his misery. He could try to be a bit more charming though, such a whiner."

Alkaid was getting a pretty good idea of where exactly this Lake Cocytus was and the knowledge was making her feel very uneasy, nevertheless she _had_ to make this deal.

"Very well, I accept your price."

"Then it's a deal!" Baba declared and reached with a suddenly wizened hand into the projection and poked at the storm cloud. The image of the cloud was suddenly overlayed with a intricate web of glowing threads that Alkaid guessed were probably the magic that sustained it. The ancient witch studied the web for a second or two before using one of her long hideous nails to snag a knot and pull. The thread held for a moment but eventually snapped under Baba's efforts, unraveling the whole web in the process. As it did, the storm cloud dissipated as well.

"There," Baba said with a satisfied grin at her work.

"Thank you, Baba." Alkaid informed the immortal genuinely.

"Just pay me like you promised and we're good."

"Ya know, this was awfully convenient. I mean you showing up and all. Heck, even us showing up just as that Angel girl attacked. It's all pretty damn coincidental."

"I ag- What's this?" Alkaid asked as a note suddenly appeared in her hand.

 _Everything is hitsuzen. :)_

 _The Amanos_

 _P.S. We did it! XP_

"Those monsters?" Baba shuddered, "I'm out! Just remember you ladies owe me a favor for watching the murder munchkin extra, got it?"

"That spell doesn't cover it?" Pyrrha asked, confused.

"That was that, this is this," Baba replied irritably. "Now enough of the silly questions. I'm gone."

With that she vanished as abruptly as she'd come, leaving the Potters to look at each other in mild confusion.

"So, um, drop Miss Nephilim off and head home?" Pyrrha asked after an awkward moment.

"I guess," Alkaid replied with a tired shrug. "Then we get that nose fixed. I will not have crooked eskimo kisses in this family."

* * *

While the Potters settled the loose ends of their mission, back in Camp Half-Blood Nico was hanging out with Will Solace and Cecil from Cabin 11 as they ran errands together for the repair crews fixing up Camp's defenses in the wake of that freak storm that everyone insisted was some kind of attack.

Nico wasn't buying it though. "I don't get why you guys are so worked up. It was just a bad storm."

"No it wasn't." Will insisted. "Camp doesn't get bad weather. It only ever happens when someone overcomes its wards. And considering the damage it caused, it was almost certainly an attack."

Cecil Markowitz, a son of Hermes, nodded in agreement.

"You're both just being paranoid." Nico dismissed with a shake of her head.

"It's smart to be a little paranoid. We _are_ at war." Bianca's voice whispered suddenly into his ear.

Nico jumped even as his sister dropped her invisibility, chuckling at his reaction while stroking the cait sith kitten that was her latest familiar and the source of her new power to go invisible.

"Nice new trick," Cecil complimented. "You're shaping up into a bona fide warlock, huh?"

"I try." Bianca said with a proud grin. "It's all thanks to Big Sis though. She's the one teaching me."

Nico feels a little put out by that, he wants to learn magic too but it was pretty hard. Pyrrha usually just teached him how to fight with weapons and his skeletons.

"Don't be greedy, Nico." Gracie Gray, Big Sis' apprentice said teleporting in with a literal pop using something that she called apparition. "You're already a necromancer slash fighter, practically a death knight. If you picked up magic too, then you'll never have time to get good at anything."

 _Death Knight, huh? That actually sounds like a good goal to aim for… Now I just need to pick a mount. Hmm…_

"Daydream later, Nico." Bianca chided him as she leaned over to pinch his arm. "We came over to fetch you for a reason."

Nico rubbed his abused arm irritably but just nodded at his sister to continue, though Gracie picked up the conversation instead.

"Sensei is back," Gracie said with a smile. "So let's go check in with her!"

"Big Sis is back?" Nico asked excitedly.

His eldest sister and her wife, Pyrrha, had been gone on a mission for a whole week! A whole lot longer than anyone thought they should have. A fact that had caused the whole family to be so worried for them. Even Lady Persephone had stopped by once to check in with Chiron if he'd heard anything.

"Is she okay?" Will, sensible as always, asked what Nico probably should have.

"She's fine. Tired but otherwise fine."

Nico breathed a sigh of relief at Bianca's judgement of things.

"Why are we still standing here talking?" Gracie asked impatiently. "The clock hands are moving!"

"Guys, could yo-"

Nico hadn't even finished his request to his friends when Cecil reached over and grabbed the stuff he was carrying.

"Go." The son of Hermes told him seriously. "We've got this."

Nodding, Nico followed after the two girls as they raced off to go see his Big Sis.

* * *

A couple days after her parents got back from their mission, Mina was shadowing her Mama as she oversaw her siblings, Mina's aunts and uncles, in Cabin Five as they worked on restoring and enhancing Camp's damaged defenses.

Mina was so glad that her Mum and Mama were back from Japan, and especially from visiting the scary Amanos, safe and sound. She was especially glad that the weirdos that were the Amano kids hadn't hurt them.

When she'd heard they'd got dragged to the Overgods' domain, Mina had almost had a heart attack. Even she knew how crazy those two were, and for a goddess of madness to call someone dangerously crazy, that was saying something. But that was what the overgods were. So she was happy as a clam that her mothers were home safe.

Now if only they didn't come home and be all boring!

"Mama, I'm bored!" The goddess of serial killers whined.

"Sweetie, I'm working right now. I'll play with you when I can. Alright?"

"I wanna play now!"

"Then go bug Mum!" Mama sharply retorted her pretty eyes all angry and lively.

"Okay!" Mina agreed easily enough and teleported to Mum's office slash room in the Big House. The room was neat and tidy, just like Mum was with everything that wasn't Mama after a 'woopie' night. Ah, Rhip was in the corner, the sneaky devil, playing with something shiny.

"Got bored?" Mum asked knowingly without even looking up from the letters she was writing at a rapid, efficient pace.

"Yeah," Mina said with a sigh as she crawled into her Mum's lap, inhaling the sweet flowery perfume she was wearing. The woman accommodating her without a word.

"Well, you can sit with me as I work." Mum said patting her head affectionately, her fingers stroking her ashen locks. Mina really liked head pats. "That good?"

"Umm!" Mina replied happily as she snuggled into her Mum's frame, her warm body making her feel safe and sound. This was better than some woman's womb she used to open up back in London. Those got cold very fast but Mum was warm all the time.

"So what are you writing?" Mina asked as she curiously peered at the boring scribbles. Words were stupid and some times Alecto made her practice them. Stupid Alecto.

"Correspondence with other pantheons." Mum explained with a frown. That wasn't good, Mum should never frown, even if she frowned prettily. "We've received news that the Titans are recruiting and/or getting resources from their domains, so I'm trying to convince their gods to stop that."

"They don't wanna?"

"No," Mum admitted with a sigh, offering her another appeasing head pat.

 _Good job, Mum!_ Mina complimented as she luxuriated in her Mum's attention.

"As usual, gods will only act when absolutely necessary."

"Sounds right," the little goddess said sleepily, her mother's warmth lulling her into a doze.

"I know. Though I wish it wasn't. It'll save me and your Mama a lot of work if the gods were just a little more proactive."

Mina just nodded lightly, too sleepy to do more than that.

"But I guess that's a problem for later," Mum said as she leaned down to kiss Mina on the top of her head. "For now, why don't I put you to bed."

Mina wanted to protest taking a nap. She was a big girl damnit! But she couldn't bring herself to. Her Mum's warmth was too wonderful and sleep inducing.

"Stay with me?" Mina asked instead as Mum gently lay her down on her bed.

"Always," Mum said with a sweet smile as she sat down on the bed next to Mina and patted her to sleep and offered a loving kiss to her forehead.

 _I want to always stay warm like this,_ the goddess of serial killers thought as she let Morpheus pull her into the realm of dreams. _I'll destroy anything that would dare take it away from me._

* * *

 **Done and done! Thanks to the awesome team of Nameless and Axios as always for this completed book!**

 **Phew, man, it was a long road. Has it been a year or two? I can't remember but dang if it isn't satisfying. I remember starting this series when I was still in college. Now the Heroineverse has taken off! It's almost endgame with Alkaid and Andi, but Rhode has some ways to go.**

 **Nameless: So this chapter marks the end of this book of COTU. Hope you enjoyed the ride! As for this chapter in particular, it's a little less action packed than the Battle of Zeus' Fist but we tried to make up for that by having two major duels in the chapter. Hopefully it was enjoyable nonetheless.**

 **The gauntlet of Circe, Magicians and Angel was a heck of a battle. There was a lot to cover and we hoped we showed off why we love these awesome gals so much with the ass-kickery they can do!**

 **Nameless: And Alkaid has made a couple of new enemies. What are we gonna do with such an extensive rogue gallery? I'm pretty sure comic book fans already can guess. And that's not all that the next book will cover. After all, Alkaid now has to go handle issues the Titans have created in the domains of other pantheons doesn't she? Wonder what'll happen there, huh?**

 **So here's a visual guide to some stuff that you readers might find confusing.**

 **Angel's Vivances are the dolem Vivance from RahXephon**

 **Her Allegretto is likewise based off a dolem of the same name from RahXephon**

 **The Obbligato is based off the Jehuty Orbital Frame from the Zone of the Enders franchise.**

 **E4E: You know what to do! Smash that review button and tell us what you love! No flames and peace off my peeps!**


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